Bhubaneswar, June 23 -- In a setback to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy has dismissed the party's petition seeking the disqualification of eight rebel MLAs who defied the party whip and cross-voted for BJP-backed independent candidate Dilip Ray in the Rajya Sabha election held in March this year. The Speaker, in her order on June 19, rejected the petitions on the ground that they failed to comply with mandatory procedural requirements laid down under the Members of Odisha Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1987. On April 25, BJD Legislature Party chief whip Pramila Mallik had moved the Speaker's office seeking disqualification of the eight MLAs under Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution, arguing that their conduct amounted to "voluntarily giving up" membership of the party. htc...