Bhubaneswar, February 26 The Election Commission of India formally issued a notification on Thursday for the election of four Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha, with polling scheduled for March 16.
According to the notification, the last date for filing nominations is March 5, while scrutiny of papers will take place on March 6. Candidates are allowed to withdraw their nominations until March 9, it said.
The notification stated that the polling will be held on March 16 from 9 am to 4 pm. The counting of votes will take place at 5 pm on the same day.
The Election Commission of India has stated that the entire election process will be completed by March 20.
The biennial elections to the Upper House of Parliament were necessitated as the tenure of four Rajya Sabha members from Odisha – Niranjan Bishi and Munna Khan of BJD, and Sujeet Kumar and Mamata Mohanta (BJP) – ends on April 2. Members of the Odisha Legislative Assembly will elect the four RS candidates.
No political party has so far named any candidate for the four Rajya Sabha seats.
Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, the Odisha BJP in-charge, said, "The party has already held its core committee meeting here in Bhubaneswar and sent some names for the RS polls. The BJP's Parliamentary party will decide on candidates."
BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said that party president Naveen Patnaik will take a final call on the RS candidate at the appropriate time.
Considering the party's position in the 147-member Odisha Assembly, the ruling BJP is set to win two seats, while one berth will go to the opposition BJD candidate.
For the fourth seat, neither the BJP nor the BJD have the required number of MLAs to win the seat.
In the 147-member Odisha Legislative Assembly, the BJP has 79 MLAs and the support of three Independents, taking its total strength to 82 votes. The BJD's tally stands at 48 following the suspension of two of its legislators last month. The Congress has 14 MLAs, and the CPI(M) has one.
A candidate requires at least 30 first-preference votes to win one Rajya Sabha seat.
As the BJP has the support of 82 members, it can easily win two seats (30+30), and the saffron party would have 22 surplus votes.
The BJD, after electing one member, would be left with 18 surplus votes.
Meanwhile, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das has announced to field one candidate even if the party does not have the support of the required 30 MLAs.
He said the Congress would hold discussion with BJD president Naveen Patnaik for making some arrangements for the fourth seat.
Congress Legislature Party leader Rama Chandra Kadam said that they have proposed that the BJD either field a candidate for the fourth seat with its support or back a Congress nominee to prevent the BJP from winning three seats.