The four candidates of the BJD on Tuesday filed their nomination papers for the four seats in the Rajya Sabha from Odisha.
Sasmit Patra, Manas Ranjan Mangaraj, Sulata Deo and Niranjan Bishi filed their papers in the presence of a few Ministers and party MLAs at the State Assembly Secretariat. As Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is on a three-day official trip to New Delhi, he remained absent.Notably, the tenure of three Rajya Sabha members, Nekkanti Bhaskar Rao, Prasanna Acharya and Sasmit Patra, from Odisha will end on July 1. The election to three seats is scheduled on June 10.
Besides, one Rajya Sabha seat is lying vacant after Subash Chandra Singh resigned from the post after being elected as the Mayor of Cuttack. The by-poll for this seat will be held on June 13. The last date of filing nomination for the seat is June 2.
The opposition parties are not expected to field their candidates for all these seats since the ruling BJD has adequate strength in the State Assembly to get their nominees elected. So, the BJD candidates will be elected unopposed.