BHUBANESWAR: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and BJD candidates Debashish Samantaray and Subhasish Khuntia were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Odisha on Tuesday.
Sources said there was no necessity for election as three candidates had filed nomination papers for as many vacant seats in the Upper House. As the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers was February 20, these three candidates - one from the BJP and two from BJD - were declared elected.
Rajya Sabha membership certificates were handed over to Vaishnaw, Samantaray and Khuntia by the returning officer.
Former Barabati-Cuttack MLA Samantaray and Biju Yuba Janata Dal (BYJD) vice-president Khuntia had filed their nomination papers from the BJD for two seats of Rajya Sabha.
Similarly, Vaishnaw had filed his papers as the BJP nominee. In a repeat of 2019 RS election, BJD had extended its support to his candidature. The BJD had supported his candidature for his first term in Rajya Sabha in 2019.
While BJD had the required strength to win all three vacant RS seats, BJP needed the support of the regional outfit with only 22 MLAs in the state Assembly. These three seats will fall vacant on April 3, 2024, with the terms of Ashwini Vaishnaw and BJD leaders Prashanta Nanda and Amar Patnaik coming to an end.