Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself took to X, to share the information about her nomination. He hailed her nomination to the Upper House and said that her presence in the House will be a powerful testament to nation’s ‘Nari Shakti’.
Polling was held for 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, four in Karnataka and one seat in Himachal Pradesh. On February 20, 41 candidates including BJP chief J P Nadda, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were elected unopposed to the Upper House.
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.
Returning Officer for the Rajya Sabha elections, Abanikanta Pattnaik said, “Only three candidates filed their nominations for the three vacant Rajya Sabha seats. If there had been contest in all three seats, elections would have been conducted.”
Vaishnaw had never been in parliament when he was named as the BJP candidate in 2019 despite the party lacking the numbers in the state assembly.
Taking to his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, the newly-appointed in-charge of the Odisha Congress, Ajoy Kumar wrote, “BJP-BJD bonhomie! The ‘Tactical Larger plan’ of the two erstwhile ‘married alliance’ is on the move!.”
Ending all speculations, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday named Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election in Odisha.
As per reports, the Union Railway Minister is coming to Odisha on a two-day visit starting from tomorrow. Though some programmes have been scheduled on February 14, he has no specific programmes on February 15, the last date for nomination filing for Rajya Sabha. This has given credence to the speculation, even though both parties have not yet given any indications.
Various circles are busy doing guesswork about the probability of a leader being chosen either from southern or western Odisha. Observers believe that in his usual style of functioning, the BJD supremo and Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik may spring a surprise.
CM Naveen Patnaik and other BJD leaders were present during the filing of the nomination papers in the state Assembly today.
Ending days of speculation, the Biju Janata Dal(BJD) announced the names of Debashish Samantaray and Subhasish Khuntia as nominees to the Rajya Sabha. However, the ruling party is yet to announce its third nominee.
As per reports, a number of party leaders are aspiring for RS seats, but the ruling party is making assessments of political benefits while choosing the candidate ahead of the general elections, informed sources.
It is pertinent to mention here that the election will be conducted for three Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha held by Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Prashanta Nanda, and Amar Patnaik, whose terms end on April 3, 2024.
Replying to the Motion of Thanks on President’s address, PM Modi rained blows on the grand old party while holding it responsible for India’s backwardness in the 'pre-2014 era'.
Taking to LinkedIn, Rajan wrote, "There has been some speculation in the press about my recent meetings and a Rajya Sabha seat. I have not discussed a Rajya Sabha seat with any party. I am an academic, not a politician."
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