BHUBANESWAR: Ollywood star Anubhav Mohanty on Monday filed his nomination papers as the BJD candidate for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Odisha, elections for which will be held on June 19.
Anubhav filed his papers in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, several ministers and party MLAs. He filed two sets of nomination papers. The film star had joined the BJD before the general election.
The seat had fallen vacant after resignation of former minister AU Singhdeo who contested as BJD candidate from Balangir Assembly seat and lost. “I wish him all the best in his duties as Rajya Sabha member,” Naveen told mediapersons after Anubhav filed the papers.
Anubhav’s election as a Rajya Sabha member is only a formality given the numerical strength of BJD in the Assembly. BJD has 117 members while Congress and BJP have 16 and 10 members respectively.
Though there are two more vacancies in Rajya Sabha from Odisha, election to those seats are yet to be notified by the Election Commission.