Naveen Patnaik's BJD May Turn Lynchpin In Rajya Sabha No 2 Polls

Nine lawmakers in its camp, Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal is rapidly emerging as the kingmaker in the coming elections for the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson. Mr Patnaik is holding his cards close - the BJP expects him to support its candidate. Sources in the BJD say Mr Patnaik has given no indication to either side, but the opposition camp is apprehensive that he would support the government's candidate.

This evening, hours before the opposition meet to formalize its candidate, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party backed out from fielding its candidate after dialing Mr Patnaik.

Sources said the Nationalist Congress Party received negative vibes from Mr Patnaik when they sought support for Vandana Chavan, the 57-year-old former Mayor from Pune, as the consensus candidate for the opposition.

In the morning, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had called Mr Patnaik, seeking his support for Harivansh Narayan Singh -- the first-time lawmaker from his party who is being fielded by the government.

During the voting in the no-confidence motion last month, the BJD had walked out. While the party claimed it was unable to decide, abstention by its 19 lawmakers had helped the government, bringing down the magic figure and helping it achieve a two-thirds majority.

This time, an abstention by its 9 lawmakers, will bring down the majority mark in the 245-member house to 118.

The NDA currently stands at 110 seats. The government is also counting on the support of the AIADMK and K Chandrashekar Rao's Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which will give it 125 votes.

The opposition has 119 seats -- including Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress. Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party and Mehbooba Mufti's PDP also indicated that they will support the opposition candidate. The DMK is also expected to support the opposition.