Bhubaneswar: The nomination papers of all five candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha were accepted after the scrutiny on Friday.
The candidates for the biennial polls are Santrupt Misra, Dr Datteswar Hota, Manmohan Samal, Sujeet Kumar and Dilip Ray. The nomination papers of all the candidates were found to be in order during scrutiny process, sources said.
While Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has fielded Santrupt Misra for the third secure seat, the regional party has nominated Hota for the crucial fourth Rajya Sabha seat from Odisha. Congress has already announced its support foro Hota.
Similarly, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded its state president Manmohan Samal and
outgoing MP Sujeet Kumar. The Lotus party has also extended support to senior leader Dilip Ray, who is contesting as an independent candidate.
Rajya Sabha election is slated to be held on March 16 as the tenure of four members from the state will end on April 2.
BJP’s support for Ray is being viewed as a strategic move by the party to attempt winning three out of the four Rajya Sabha seats from the state.
However, neither the BJP nor the BJD currently has enough numbers in the Assembly to independently secure the fourth seat.
Numerical strength of different partis in the Assembly shows that the ruling BJP is comfortably placed win two seats, while BJD is likely to secure one.
As per the Rajya Sabha electoral formula, a candidate needs at least 30 first-preference votes to win a seat from Odisha.
With the support of 82 MLAs, the BJP is well placed to win two seats and will still have 22 surplus votes. However, the party remains eight votes short of the number required to secure a third seat.
The battle for the fourth seat is expected to be closely contested between Ray and Hota.