Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Legislative Assembly Secretariat today issued formal notification for the by-election to one Rajya Sabha seat on December 20.
The vacancy from Odisha was created following the resignation of BJD Member Sujeet Kumar from Rajya Sabha in September.
As per the notification, the last date for filing of nomination papers will be December 10. Scrutiny of nominations will be done on December 11. The last date for withdrawal of candidature will be December 13.
If required, the by poll will be conducted between 9 am and 4 pm on December 20. Counting of votes will be done at 5 pm the same day.
He was elected to Rajya Sabha on April 3, 2020, and his term would have ended on April 2, 2026. He has now joined the BJP and is likely to be re-elected to the Upper House by the party.
Once a close associate of BJD president Naveen Patnaik,Shri Kumar, from Kalahandi district, became the second BJD MP to resign from Rajya Sabha after Mamata Mohanta, a leader from the Kudumi community.
Shrimati Mohanta later joined the BJP and became a Rajya Sabha member as a saffron party nominee.
Odisha has 10 Rajya Sabha seats, of which seven are held by BJD MPs, two by BJP MPs, and one is currently vacant, which is expected to go in favor of the saffron party, given its strength of 78 MLAs in the 147-Member Assembly.