The four candidates of the BJD on Wednesday filed their nomination papers for elections to as many Rajya Sabha seats from the State.
Subash Singh, Chairperson of the Odisha Construction Workers Welfare Board; Munna Khan, Advisor to the Government on Minority Affairs; Sujit Kumar, Advisor of Special Development Council (SDC); and Mamata Mahanta, a member of the women wing of the BJD in Mayurbhanj district, filed their nominations at the Assembly Conference Hall here in the presence of party supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
The nominations were filed before the State Assembly Secretary Dasarathi Satapathy, who is also the Returning Officer for the purpose.
The BJD with 113 members in the 147-seat Assembly is all set to win all four Rajya Sabha seats as Leader of Opposition (BJP) Pradipta Kumar Naik said his party would not field any candidate as it does not have the “required number” to elect one to the Upper House of Parliament.
The Congress, which has only nine MLAs, will also not participate in the polls.
The last date of filing of nominations is March 13. Scrutiny of the nominations is on March 16. Last date for withdrawal of candidatures is March 18. The date of poll is March 26; and voting will take place between 9 am to 4 pm. Votes will be counted on the same day at 5 pm followed by announcement of results.