Ashwini Vaishnaw & 2 BJD Leaders From Odisha Take Oath As Rajya Sabha Member

New Delhi: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders Debasish Samantray and Subhasish Khuntia took oath as member of Rajya Sabha, representing Odisha, on Thursday.

They were administered the oath of office by Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar at the new Parliament building here.

Both Vaishnaw and Khutia took oath in Odia language.

Vaishnaw has been elected to the Upper House for second consecutive term while it is the first for both former Barabati-Cuttack MLA Samantray and Khuntia. Samantary had won from the assembly constituency in 2014 and 2009.

A total of 14 political leaders, including former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, were sworn in as the Rajya Sabha members. Three  seats from Odisha had fallen vacant following the completion of the terms of Vaishnaw, and BJD MPs Prashanta Nanda, and Amar Patnaik.

The Rajya Sabha secretariat said that the terms of the members from Odisha and Rajasthan started from Thursday. All others started their term from Wednesday.