4 BJD candidates file nominations for Rajya Sabha polls

Bureau,Odishabarta

Bhubaneswar: Four candidates of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) filed their nomination papers on Tuesday for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. All the candidates of the regional party filed their papers in presence of some ministers and party MLAs before the Returning Officer on the Odisha Legislative Assembly premises.

Senior party leaders Prasanna Patasani and Prasanna Acharya were also present when the BJD candidates filed their nominations. The tenure of three incumbent Rajya Sabha members from Odisha – Nekkanti Bhaskar Rao, Prasanna Acharya, and Sasmit Patra – will expire on July 1, while another seat in the Upper House of Parliament fell vacant due to the resignation of BJD’s Subhas Singh.

Singh resigned as Rajya Sabha member after he became Mayor of Cuttack Municipal Corporation in March this year.

Sulata Deo, Manas Ranjan Mangaraj and Sasmit Patra filed their nomination papers for the three seats to be vacant from July 1, while Niranjan Bishi will contest for the Rajya Sabha byelection. Polling for the three Rajya Sabha seats will be held from 9 am to 4 pm on June 10, and the counting of votes will take place at 5 pm on that day.

The by-election to another seat of the Upper House of Parliament will be conducted on June 13 and the counting will be held after the poll.

As BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is on a three-day visit to the national capital, the candidates spoke to him via video conferencing from his chamber on the Assembly premises. The BJD, which has 113 MLAs in the 147-member Assembly, is likely to win all four seats on the basis of its strength in the House. The Opposition BJP and Congress have 22 and nine legislators respectively.

A by-election is underway for Brajarajnagar Assembly seat. The BJP and the Congress have not fielded any candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls. For the June 10 polling, scrutiny of nomination papers will be held at 11.30 am on June 1.