Former legislator Debashish Samantaray and vice-president of Biju Janata Dal youth wing Subhasish Khuntia on Tuesday filed nomination for the Rajya Sabha election, which is scheduled on February 27.
Mr. Samantray and Mr. Khuntia came to Odisha Assembly and filed the nomination in presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Their election to the Upper House of Parliament is foregone conclusion as the BJD has 109 members (four expelled from the party) in the 147-member Assembly. The three candidates need 38 first preference votes each to win the election.