Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Legislative Assembly announced on Wednesday the commencement of the nomination process for a Rajya Sabha seat election.
The vacancy arose following the resignation of Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Mohanta from her position and her departure from the BJD on July 31, which occurred two years before the end of her term. She had been elected to the Upper House on April 3, 2020.
The election is scheduled alongside 11 other vacant seats across nine states on September 3.
According to the notification, nominations must be filed by August 21, with scrutiny scheduled for August 22. The deadline for withdrawal of nominations is August 27.
Originally, out of the 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha, the BJD held nine and the BJP one. Mohanta’s resignation reduced the BJD’s count to eight.
The vacant seat is expected to be secured by the ruling BJP, which possesses 78 MLAs in the 147-seat Assembly. The opposition BJD has 51 MLAs, followed by the Congress with 14, the CPI(M) with one, and three independents.
