Bhubaneswar, April 13 -- Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Monday appointed Manas Ranjan Mangaraj as the leader of its Parliamentary Party in the Rajya Sabha and Sulata Deo as Deputy Leader and Chief Whip in the Upper House.

This comes after BJD president Naveen Patnaik accepted the resignation of MP Sasmit Patra as leader of the BJD parliamentary party in the Rajya Sabha.

Patra's resignation comes after Dutteshwar Hota, who has the support of BJD, Congress and CPI(M), was defeated in the Rajya Sabha elections amid cross-voting.

The party had suspended its six MLAs for "anti-party activities, including cross-voting" in the Rajya Sabha elections.

A BJD release said that the party's Disciplinary Committee examined the replies of the MLA to the s...