Former State Ministers Ananga Uday Singh Deo and Bhupinder Singh on Monday filed their nominations for the elections to the two Rajya Sabha seats from the State, which have fallen vacant following the resignations of former RS members Sashi Bhushan Behera and Rabi Narayan Mohapatra.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh and other leaders of the ruling BJD were present when the two filed their nominations.
The Assembly Secretary revealed that Singh Deo filed his nomination for the seat vacated by Mohapatra, which has nearly four years of its term left, while Singh filed his nomination for the seat vacated by Behera with two years of its tenure left.
BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik apparently wanted to favour his old friend Singh Deo more than Singh, who had defected from the Congress to the BJD on the eve of the general elections.