Bhubaneswar: As Odisha gears up for Rajya Sabha elections, opposition Congress on Friday announced that the party is set to field a candidate for the upcoming polls despite lacking adequate number of MLAs.
Sources said the Election Commission of India (ECI) has initiated the process by writing to the Chief Electoral Officer of Odisha to start poll preparations as four Rajya Sabha members from the state are set to retire on April 2, this year.
The terms of Niranjan Bishi and Munna Khan
from Biju Janata Dal (BJD), and Sujeet Kumar and Mamata Mohanta from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will come to an end.
With the process set to begin soon, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das has made a major statement, making it clear that the party is not bothered about defeat or victory.
Congress will field a candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections, despite not having the required number of legislators, he said, adding that the party has decided on the names of three or four people.
The party will discuss this with the high command for finalising a candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls, the PCC chief said. “Congress will definitely fight alone in the Rajya Sabha polls. Anyone from within or outside the party can be nominated,” Das said.
It may be noted that BJP currently has 82 MLAs, BJD 50, and Congress 14 members in the 147-member Assembly.