4 BJD candidates file nominations for Rajya Sabha polls

All the four candidates of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), who have been nominated for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election, filed their nomination papers at the Legislative Assembly in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.

The ruling party has nominated Sulata Deo, Manas Ranjan Mangaraj, Sasmit Patra, and Niranjan Bishi to fill up the vacant seats in the Rajya Sabha from Odisha.

Following a meeting with the party supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik via video conferencing, the BJD leaders submitted their nominations to the returning officer in presence of some other senior party leaders including Prasanna Patasani and Prasanna Acharya.

While the scrutiny of nomination papers will be held at 11.30 am on June 1, withdrawal of the papers can be done till 3 pm on June 3.

If elected, this will be a consecutive second term for the party’s spokesperson Sasmit Patra. The remaining three will be first-timers to the Upper House of the Parliament.

“We will try our best to present the demands of Odisha in the Upper House of the Parliament in an effective manner. We will also discuss different issues pertaining to the development of the State with different Ministries and try to bring out necessary solutions,” said Patra after filing his nomination.

As per the official notification, the election will be held for three seats on June 10 as the tenure of Prasanna Acharya, N. Bhaskar Rao and Dr Sasmit Patra ends on July 1.

Another Rajya Sabha seat got vacated after senior BJD leader Subhas Singh resigned from the House on April 21 for contesting the post of Mayor in Cuttack in the Municipal elections. An election was necessitated as Singh took over as the Mayor of Cuttack. The Rajya Sabha byelection for the seat will be held on June 13.

The BJD is in a position to win all the four seats as it has a strength of 122 members in the Assembly.