Three candidates from Odisha were elected unanimously to the Rajya Sabha in bypolls on Friday. Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders Amar Patnaik and Sasmit Patra and; Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashwini Vaishnaw were elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha by-polls.
Odisha Assembly secretary Dasarathi Satpathy, who is the returning officer for the Rajya Sabha bypolls, declared the three as elected unopposed.
Elections to the Rajya Sabha seats had to be conducted as they had fallen vacant with BJD’s Achyutananda Samanta, Pratap Keshari Deb and Soumya Ranjan Patnaik getting elected to the Lok Sabha and Odisha State Assembly respectively.
The BJD decided to nominate its IT Cell Chairman Patnaik and spokesperson Patra to the Rajya Sabha in place of Samanta and Deb respectively. On the other hand Vaishnaw was nominated to the seat left vacant by the Soumya Ranjan.
The tenure of seats vacated by Samanta and Patnaik will end on April 3, 2024, whereas the tenure of the Upper House seat vacated by Deb will end on July 1, 2022.
