300 aspirants for 3 Rajya Sabha seats

As the race for the Rajya Sabha elections begins in Orissa, the number of aspirants in the ruling BJD is increasing with every passing day. According to sources, at least 300 persons are eyeing the three Rajya Sabha seats that are going to fall vacant on July 1 after the completion of the tenures of BJD members Baishnab Parida, Pyarimohan Mohapatra and Bhupinder Singh.

Those who are in the race, sources informed, include BJD leaders who lost the 2014 elections, industrialists, intellectuals and senior journalists. As per its present strength in the 147-member Assembly, the BJD, with 117 MLAs, is in absolute command to bag all the three seats as it requires 38 legislators to elect a Rajya Sabha member. It implies that it requires the support of 114 members to comfortably elect three of its party members.

The aspirants are leaving no stone unturned to send their message across to BJD president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik and other senior leaders of the party about their eligibility and contributions they have made for the party.

Before the CM left for New Delhi on May 22, as many as 123 applications had reached Naveen Nivas, the CM’s residence, and the number since then had considerably gone up, the sources informed.

Political experts wonder if Mr Patnaik will send senior leaders this time around or choose Oriya film actors or sports icons as he did in the past, apparently to strengthening the party’s election campaign brigade. Sources said the editor of a leading Oriya daily is putting pressure on the BJD chief to send him to the Rajya Sabha.

Among political leaders, the names of Prasanna Acharya, Bimbadhar Kuanar, Rabinarayan Pani, Bhaskar Rao, Rabi Samala and Pratap Keshari Dev are doing the rounds.

Similarly, among the non-political faces, the names of sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra and some retired bureaucrats are doing the rounds. The last date for filing nominations has been fixed for May 31. The scrutiny of nominations will be held on June 1.