Today was the last day of withdrawal of nominations for elections to the three Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha.
As no other candidates from other parties contested for the three seats, the two nominees of the Biju Janata Dal(BJD), Debasish Samantaray and Subashish Khuntia, and the lone candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ashwini Vaishnaw were elected uncontested on Tuesday.
Speaking to the media in the afternoon, the Returning Officer for the Rajya Sabha elections, Abanikant Patnaik said, “The nominations of the three nominees for the Rajya Sabha seats remained valid. Their candidature can be declared. They are Debashish Samantaray, Subashish Khuntia, and Ashwini Vaishnaw.”
He also added that as there were three vacant seats and three candidates only filed their nominations, there was no need for voting for these posts.
Patnaik said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been intimated about the status of the nomination on the last day.
Had any other candidates been in the fray, elections to the three RS seats would have been held on February 27, he added.