Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday released a notification for elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats, including three from Odisha, on June 10.
While polling will be held from 9 am to 4 pm, counting of votes will take place at 5 pm on June 10.
The notification will be issued on May 24 and the last date for filing nominations is May 31. Those will be scrutinised on May 31. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is June 3.
The Commission has directed the Chief Secretaries of the states concerned to depute a senior officer from their state to ensure that the COVID-19 protocols are strictly followed while making arrangements for the elections to the Rajya Sabha seats.
Notably, the term of Prasanna Acharya, Sasmit Patra and N Bhaskar Rao is scheduled to end on July 1. All the 3 MPs belong to the ruling BJD.
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. Ruling party circles are also discussing the possibility of Naveen, who is currently visiting New Delhi, sending people from non-political backgrounds to the House of the Elders.
Sources further said that Patra has a bright chance of getting repeated because of his performance in the Rajya Sabha and the fact that he served only a truncated term.
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