KalingaTV News Network
Bhubaneswar: Nomination papers of all Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidates for the ensuing elections to the three seats to the Rajya Sabha from Odisha were found to be valid, informed Returning Officer Rajesh Prabhakar Patil on Tuesday.
Veteran BJD leader Prashanta Nanda and recently inducted into party fold- Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik had filed their nomination papers here on March 9.
Meanwhile, nomination papers filed by independent candidate Subash Mohapatra were rejected during the scrutiny today.
The polling will be held between 9 AM and 4 PM on March 23, while the votes will be counted at 5 PM on the same day.
Since BJD has 118 MLAs out of the total 147 Assembly seats in the state, three party leaders will certainly be elected to the Upper House of the parliament.
Three seats in Rajya Sabha from the state will fall vacant as the tenure of BJD Members AU Singhdeo and Dilip Tirkey as well as BJD-backed Independent candidate AV Swami is scheduled to end on April 2.
Kalinga AI