Bhubaneswar, February 28 BJD president Naveen Patnaik announced senior party leader Dr Santrupt Misra and doctor Datteswar Hota as its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections on Saturday.
Misra had unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Cuttack and currently serves as the political secretary to Patnaik, while Hota is a renowned urologist.
Patnaik made the announcement after holding discussions with the party MLAs.
Earlier, the BJD's political affairs committee, the highest decision-making body, had authorized Patnaik to decide on the Rajya Sabha candidates.
"For the Rajya Sabha elections, our party has decided to nominate two candidates. The first is Dr Santrupt Misra, a senior member of our party. The other candidate, who is a common candidate, is Datteswar Hota, a renowned doctor from Odisha," the BJD chief told reporters.
The Rajya Sabha elections are scheduled for March 16.
Patnaik said Hota is the first vice-chancellor of the Odisha Health University and also served as the principal of the SCB Medical College in Cuttack.
"Since he (Dr Hota) is a common candidate, I appeal to all the parties to support him and send him to the Rajya Sabha," the leader of the opposition said.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das, who is now in Delhi, appreciated Patnaik's decision to field Hota as a "common candidate".
"Naveen Babu has taken a very important decision by fielding Dr Hota as a common candidate. We will support his candidature to prevent possible horse-trading as planned by the ruling BJP. There is no difficulty in supporting the common candidate," Das claimed while speaking to a news channel.
Responding to a question, Patnaik said he is hopeful of the victory of both candidates.
"I express my gratitude to BJD president Naveen Patnaik and party leaders for giving me the opportunity in the RS polls. I accept it humbly," Misra told reporters.
Hota hailed Patnaik for reposing faith in him and said, "I will work tirelessly for the improvement in the health sector in the state and the country".
According to the Rajya Sabha arithmetic in Odisha, each candidate needs at least 30 first preference votes to win the elections.
In the 147-member Odisha assembly, the ruling BJP has 79 MLAs and the support of three Independents. Therefore, the BJP candidates can easily win two seats. The saffron party will have a surplus of 22 votes, which is eight short of the number required for electing three MPs.
Similarly, the opposition BJD has 48 MLAs after two of its members were suspended last month. After electing one MP, it will have 18 first-preference votes but will require another 12 to bag the second seat.
The Congress has 14 MLAs, and the CPI(M) has one member.
The four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha will fall vacant after the tenure of four MPs - Niranjan Bishi, Munna Khan, Mamata Mohanta and Sujeet Kumar - ends in April this year.