In Odisha, Congress party today suspended MLA, Shivaji Majhi, for abstaining from voting in the Rajya Sabha election held last year. Odisha PCC chief spokesman, Arya Kumar Gyanendra, said at Bhubaneswar that the Lanjigarh MLA from Kalahandi has deliberately defied party whip to support an independent candidate and abstained himself from voting. He said factual proof has been found against Shivaji Majhi in this case. Recently , an audio tape allegedly containing the voice of a minister of Naveen Patnaik Government had created political storm in Odisha as it unfolded the horse-trading of opposition MLAs during last Rajyasabha poll in the state. The tape released by a private TV channel shows how Labour Minister Pushpendra Sigh Deo finalized the deal to force a Congress MLA to abstain from voting along with Energy Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak. Pushpendra Singh Deo was caught while talking to a middle man to finalize the amount and the deal for Congress MLA Shivaji Majhi, who conspicuously remained absent from voting on June 12 Rajya Sabha elections last year. The audio tape has created an embarrassment for the BJD government which is still struggling to get out of internal party fighting. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said he was looking into the incident, while the two ministers Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak and Pushpendra Singh Deo have described it as political conspiracy hatched by the opposition. On the other hand the BJP and Congress have demanded for CBI probe for the entire episode and resignation of the two ministers caught in the audio tape. Shivaji Majhi was one of the three pposition MLAS who remained absent during Rajyasabha polling, clearing the path for third candidate of BJD to win the poll.