Bhubaneswar, March 9: BJP national president Nitin Nabin on Monday appointed Central Observers for the Rajya Sabha elections in Bihar, Haryana and Odisha.

According to a press release, Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule was appointed as Observor in Odisha.

In Odisha, four seats will undergo polling after being vacant in April. Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar have filed nominations for two seats.

In Bihar, the BJP appointed Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma and Union Minister of State (MoS) Harsh Malhotra. Gujarat Deputy CM Harsh Sanghvi was appointed as observer in Haryana.

The polling for the upcoming biennial elections to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to fill the 37 seats across 10 States is scheduled to take place on March 16, with the counting of votes on the same day at 5 PM.

According to the press note, the term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected.

The last date of nominations is March 5, followed by scrutiny on March 6. The candidates can withdraw their nominations till March 9.

A total of five candidates - two each from the BJP and the BJD and one supported by the saffron party – have filed their nomination papers for four Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha.

Two official candidates of the BJP - the party's state unit president Manmohan Samal and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar - filed their nomination papers, besides former Union minister Dilip Ray, who is contesting as an Independent but has the support of the saffron party.

BJD nominees - party leader Santrupt Misra and eminent urologist Dr Datteswar Hota, whom the Congress and the CPI(M) are supporting – are also contesting in the elections to the Upper House.