Odisha To See Repeat Of 2019 As BJP Names Ashwini Vaishnaw As Its Rajya Sabha Candidate

Bhubaneswar: Putting all speculation to rest, the BJP on Wednesday announced the name of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as Rajya Sabha candidate from Odisha.

According to sources, several BJP MLAs have started reaching Bhubaneswar or on their way to the state capital to sign his papers as proposers.

Debashish Samantray and Subhasish Kuntia of BJD on Tuesday filed their nomination papers for the other two seats from the state and their election to the Upper House of Parliament is a foregone conclusion, considering the brute strength of the regional party in the State Assembly. But the party kept mum over the third candidate leading to speculation about a repeat of 2019 when it had ensured the victory of former bureaucrat Vaishnaw, who was nominated by BJP as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha bypolls, after a request from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

The BJD has the required strength to win all three vacant RS seats, but BJP would need its support with only 22 MLAs in Odisha Assembly. A candidate requires at least 37 votes to win one RS seat in Odisha.

If elected, a near certainty, it will be Vaishnaw’s second Rajya Sabha term from the state.

This has again put the spotlight on the alleged bonhomie between BJD and BJD with the twin elections barely months away. During his visit to Sambalpur earlier this month, PM Modi too had addressed Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as friend and also refrained from targeting the BJD in his public address. Naveen reciprocated by praising Modi for making India an economic powerhouse.

According to the 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.