Cuttack Mayor Subhash Singh Resigns As Rajya Sabha Member; Who Will Replace Him?

Cuttack: Newly-elected Mayor of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), Subhash Singh resigned as a member of Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Singh, the only MP in the fray in the recent urban polls, won the Cuttack Mayor elections held on March 24, defeating his nearest Congress rival Giribala Mohanty by a huge margin of 45,206 votes.

Following this, Singh sought the advice of Vice President of India and the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Venkaiah Naidu, on the legal implications. After receiving a written reply from Parliament, he tendered his resignation, sources said.

Notably, Singh joined the BJD in 2013 and was the party’s national spokesperson and treasurer. He had served as Chairperson of Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board for two consecutive terms. He was also the founder member and general secretary of Biju Shramik Shamukhya, a trade union wing of BJD.

He was elected to Rajya Sabha from Odisha on March 24, 2020.

BJD sources had earlier told Odisha Bytes that the bypoll for Singh’s vacancy might also be held in June alongside the elections for the three other seats. The terms of Prasanna Acharya, Sasmit Patra and N Bhaskar Rao (all BJD) is scheduled to end on July 1.

Several party leaders, including veterans like Prasanna Patasani and Ramesh Chandra Choupatnaik, who during the 2019 polls were publicly assured by BJD president Naveen Patnaik of a berth in the Upper House, are among the hopefuls.

Also Read: Who Will Replace Subhas Singh In Rajya Sabha? Know The Hopefuls In BJD