Bhubaneswar: The Governing BJD today announced the names of two senior party leaders—Debashish Samantaray and Subhasish Khuntia for the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections.
BJD President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has nominated the two leaders for the Upper House of Parliament.
As per the notification, election to the three Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha will be held on February 27 between 9 am and 4 pm in the state Assembly premises and the counting of votes will be conducted on the very day at 5 pm. The last date for filing of nominations is February 15.
Three MPs, two from the Governing BJD – Prashant Nanda and Amar Patnaik and BJP’s Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, will complete their tenure in the Rajya Sabha in April this year necessitating the conduct of fresh elections to fill up the vacant posts, an official said.
Though the poll will be held for three seats, the BJD has nominated two names.
