Election process begins for three RS seats in Odisha

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday issued a notification for conduct of the by-elections to the three Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha. With issuance of the notification, the nomination filing process has started and it will continue till June 25, said B P Mishra, the returning officer for the Rajya Sabha polls.

Mishra said the nomination papers for the three Rajya Sabha seats will be filed separately in the state Assembly here. He said the scrutiny of papers will be held on June 26 and last date for withdrawal of candidature is June 28. If necessary, the by-polls will be held on July 5, he said. If election is held on July 5, the polling will be conducted between 9 am till 4 pm. The counting of votes will be done at 5 pm on July 5. The Rajya Sabha by-election process to be completed before July 9, the notification said.

In Odisha, the Rajya Sabha by-elections will be held for three seats vacated by Achyut Samanta, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik and P K Deb. While Samanta was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kandhamal Parliamentary seat, Patnaik and Deb have been elected to Odisha Assembly from Khandapada and Aul segments.

While Samanta and Patnaiks tenure was till April 3, 2024, Debs Rajya Sabha membership was till July 1, 2022. Though another Rajya Sabha member Anubhav Mohanty was
elected to Lok Sabha from Kendrapara Parliamentary seat, there will be no by-poll for his vacant seat as its tenure is less than one year.

BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will announce the names of the three candidates before June 25. The regional party is all set to retain three seats in
view of its absolute majority in the State Assembly.

While BJD has 111 MLAs, 23 members belonged to BJP and Congress has 9 MLAs. CPI(M) and Independent has one MLA each. The elections in two assembly segments were not held now.