Rajya Sabha bypolls: Three from Odisha elected unopposed

Bhubaneswar: Three candidates from Odisha were elected unanimously to the Rajya Sabha in bypolls held here today.

While Biju Janata Dal (BJD)’s Amar Patnaik and Sasmit Patra were elected to the upper House, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s nominee Ashwini Vaishnaw was elected with support from the ruling party.

Odisha Assembly Secretary Dasarathi Satpathy, who is the returning officer for the Rajya Sabha bypolls, declared the three candidates as the winners today.

The bypolls were conducted to three vacant seats held by BJD’s Achyutananda Samanta, Pratap Keshari Deb and Soumya Ranjan Patnaik.

The BJD sent its IT Cell Chairman & spokesperson Amar Patnaik and spokesperson Sasmit Patra to the Rajya Sabha in place of Achyutananda Samanta and Pratap Deb respectively. Similarly, Vaishnaw will represent Odisha in place of Soumya Ranjan Patnaik.

The three seats were lying vacant after Samanta, Deb and Patnaik won the recently held Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.