Bhubaneswar: Railway Minister and BJP leader Ashwini Vaishnaw will be arriving in Odisha on Wednesday on a two-day visit, sources said on Tuesday.
He is scheduled to visit party headquarters and review Railway and BSNL projects on February 14. He will be attending some local programmes the following day.
His visit assumes significance amid suspense over the likely candidate for the third Rajya Sabha from Odisha. While Debashish Samantray and Subhasish Kuntia have already filed their nomination papers and their election to the Upper House of Parliament is a foregone conclusion, considering the brute strength of BJD in the State Assembly, the regional party is yet to name its 3rd candidate.
In June 2019, the BJD had ensured the victory of former bureaucrat Vaishnaw, who was nominated by BJP as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha bypolls.
The BJP is yet to announce its candidates for Rajya Sabha polls in Odisha.
It may be noted here that three Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha will fall vacant as Vaishnaw, Amar Patnaik and Prashanta Nanda are due to retire from the Upper House in April this year.
According to official notification, the last date for filing of nomination is February 15 and the last date for withdrawal is February 20. The polling will be held on February 27 between 9 am and 4 pm. The counting of votes will be conducted at 5 pm the same day.
