All the three BJD nominees for the three Rajya Sabha (RS) seats were elected unopposed on Friday, informed Odisha Assembly Secretary and Returning Officer for the polls Amiya Sarangi.
Prasanna Acharya, Bishnu Charan Das and N Bhaskar Rao were elected uncintested as nomination papers of three Independent candidates were rejected on June 1.
The nomination papers of Independent candidates K Shyambabu Subbudhi, lala Arun Singh, and Akshaya Kumar Behera were rejected as they lacked security deposits and the requisite number of proposers for their candidatures. Each candidate requires the support of 37 MlAs to get elected to the Upper House. The ruling BJD has 117 MlAs in 147-member State legislative Assembly.
The election was necessitated as three Rajya Sabha members, Pyarimohan Mohapatra, Baishnab Parida, and Bhupinder Singh, would retire on July 1.