BHUBANESWAR: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday issued notification for election to four vacancies in Rajya Sabha along with 55 seats in 17 States scheduled on March 26.
Later, the Assembly Secretariat also issued a notification for polls to the four seats vacated by Anubhav Mohanty, Narendra Swain and Sarojini Hembram (all BJD) and Ranjib Biswal (Congress). The tenure of the four MPs will expire on April 2.
Secretary of Odisha Assembly and Returning Officer Dasarathi Satpathy told mediapersons that filing of nomination papers which started on Friday, will continue till March 13. The candidates will file nomination papers in the Assembly conference hall between 11 am and 3 pm. Scrutiny of nominations will be done at 11.30 am on March 16 and withdrawal of the candidature can be done by 3 pm on March 18. If necessary, polling will be conducted between 9 am and 4 pm at the Assembly Committee room no-14, he said.
The ECI had appointed Satpathy as the Returning Officer and Chief Electoral Officer Sushil Kumar Lohani as observer for the polls on March 4.
The ruling BJD with 113 members in the Assembly can win three out of the four seats. The main opposition BJP with 23 MLAs does not have the numbers to win a seat on its own. On the other hand, Congress with only nine members in the Assembly does not have the numbers to file a candidate. The CPM with one MLA has decided to abstain from the polls. There is only one independent MLA in the Assembly.