BHUBANESWAR: Former minister Pratap Keshari Deb today filed his nomination papers as the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidate for the lone Rajya Sabha seat, election for which is scheduled to be held on May 25.
Deb, accompanied by chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik and other senior leaders of BJD, filed three sets of nomination papers on the last date for filing nomination for the Rajya Sabha seat. He resigned as the chairman of the Odisha State Housing Board before filing the nomination papers.
As Deb was the only candidate to have filed the nomination papers, he is likely to be declared elected uncontested on May 18, after the withdrawal nomination papers are over. The ruling party has 117 MLAs in the 147-member Odisha Assembly. The Congress has 16 MLAs while BJP's strength in the assembly is only 10.
"I am grateful to party president for giving me this chance to represent Odisha in the Rajya Sabha. I will speak and act for Odisha and voice the state’s issues," Deb, also spokesman of BJD told mediapersons after filing the nomination papers.
The Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant following the resignation of BJD MP Bishnu Charan Das on March 21 this year. His term of office would have ended on July 1, 2022.