Bhubaneswar: As expected, lonely BJP candidate Mamata Mohanta was declared elected ‘unopposed’ to the Rajya Sabha from Odisha in the by-poll.
The Returning Officer has announced her election to the Upper House of Parliament here today after another BJP leader and party’s dummy candidate Jagannath Pradhan withdrew his nomination earlier in the day.
Shrimati Mohanta, a prominent Kudumi community leader from Mayurbhanj district, was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Odisha as a BJD candidate in 2020.
However, she resigned from her Rajya Sabha seat as well as the primary membership of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on July 31, citing being ignored and sidelined in the party.
A day after her resignation from the BJD, she joined the saffron party in New Delhi. The BJP nominated her as the party candidate for the by-poll to the Rajya Sabha seat from Odisha, which was necessitated by her resignation. Her tenure as Rajya Sabha MP was to end in April of 2026.
With Mamata elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Odisha, the BJP’s strength in the Upper House from the state has increased to two, after Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw having earlier been elected to the Rajya Sabha with the support of the Biju Janata Dal which had a strength of 8 in the RS.