BHUBANESWAR: BJD president and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday announced names of Subash Singh, Munna Khan, Sujeet Kumar and Mamata Mahanta as his party’s nominees for the Rajya Sabha, elections for which i are scheduled on March 26.
All the four leaders are associated with the party since past several years and have been rewarded for their hard work and loyalty towards party leaders.
Singh, a labour union leader, was appointed as the chairman of the Odisha Construction Workers Welfare Board, after Naveen Patnaik government came to power for the fifth term. He was also posted in the same position in the fourth term of the Naveen Patnaik government.
Khan, who is currently serving as advisor of the state SC/ST development and minority welfare department has been associated with the regional party since its formation in 1997.
While Mahanta is a prominent woman face of the party’s Mayurbhanj unit, Kumar, an Oxford and Harvard alumnus had a key role behind party’s success in several assembly constituencies in Nuapada and Kalahandi districts.
All the four leaders met Naveen at the latter’s residence after their names were announced.
The election will be held to fill up the vacancies to be created by Anubhav Mohanty, Narendra Swain, Sarojini Hembram of BJD and Ranjib Biswal of Congress. Though Mohanty’s seat fell vacant after he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019 elections, tenure of other three leaders will end on April 2.
Even as the party has no absolute majority for the fourth candidate, Naveen said they will manage to grab all four seats.
Notification for elections to the four seats have already been issued on Friday by returning officer Dasarathy Satpathy. While nomination filing process would continue till March 13, scrutiny of the nomination papers will be done on March 16.
While Congress may not field candidates because of lack of numbers, the BJP is yet to make its stand clear about fielding candidates for Rajya Sabha polls.
All the four leaders are associated with the party since past several years and have been rewarded for their hard work and loyalty towards party leaders.
Singh, a labour union leader, was appointed as the chairman of the Odisha Construction Workers Welfare Board, after Naveen Patnaik government came to power for the fifth term. He was also posted in the same position in the fourth term of the Naveen Patnaik government.
Khan, who is currently serving as advisor of the state SC/ST development and minority welfare department has been associated with the regional party since its formation in 1997.
While Mahanta is a prominent woman face of the party’s Mayurbhanj unit, Kumar, an Oxford and Harvard alumnus had a key role behind party’s success in several assembly constituencies in Nuapada and Kalahandi districts.
All the four leaders met Naveen at the latter’s residence after their names were announced.
The election will be held to fill up the vacancies to be created by Anubhav Mohanty, Narendra Swain, Sarojini Hembram of BJD and Ranjib Biswal of Congress. Though Mohanty’s seat fell vacant after he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2019 elections, tenure of other three leaders will end on April 2.
Even as the party has no absolute majority for the fourth candidate, Naveen said they will manage to grab all four seats.
Notification for elections to the four seats have already been issued on Friday by returning officer Dasarathy Satpathy. While nomination filing process would continue till March 13, scrutiny of the nomination papers will be done on March 16.
While Congress may not field candidates because of lack of numbers, the BJP is yet to make its stand clear about fielding candidates for Rajya Sabha polls.
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