Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is also the president of the ruling BJD, nominated Monday former party MLA Debasish Samantray and BJD leader Subhasish Khuntia from Puri as the party’s candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections. The seats will fall vacant in April when the terms of Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and BJD leaders Prasant Nanda and Amar Patnaik in the Rajya Sabha will come to an end.
According to a notification, the election to the three Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha will be held February 27 between 9.00 am and 4.00 pm on the Assembly premises. The counting of votes will take place at 5.00 pm. The last date for filing of nominations is February 15. Though the poll will be held for three seats, the BJD has so far nominated two names. The party may come up with another name in the next one to two days. In the 2019 Rajya Sabha polls, the ruling BJD had supported Vaishnaw.