Bhubaneswar, Feb 27: While the Rajya Sabha election is round the corner i.e on March 16, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is persistently continuing its exercises to pick out a set of befitting faces for it, who could represent the regional party the best and its eminence in the upper house.
The first round meeting for finalizing handful senior leaders from among the hundred contenders, for the forthcoming Rajya Sabha race, was convened yesterday. BJD President Naveen Patnaik chaired the Political Affairs Committee at the Res office at Naveen Niwas. During interaction with the party people, Naveen discussed the party’s well-conceived strategies ahead of the Rajya Sabha poll. He also asked the senior BJD leaders, present in the meeting to stand united in every aspect, with the consensus of the party office bearers & senior leaders. The BJD Supreme, however did not name any leader especially mentioning, who would represent the Party in the Rajya Sabha following the statutory nomination scheduled for March 16.
According to sources, the BJD is convening the 2nd round PAC meeting today, in view of the Rajya Sabha election. Naveen might deliberate on the party’s candidate here for the upcoming poll during the meeting.
With formal calls, almost all BJD MLAs have attended the crucial meeting at the Naveen Niwas. Apart from it, the senior vice-presidents and BJD’s allied wings’ heads are reportedly partaking in the discussion.
According to political analysts’ calculation, BJD president Naveen Patnaik is expected to focus on the party’s strategy this evening ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections. As the timeline falls short, around a fortnight is left for the pivotal election, and less than a week to file nomination, Naveen might announce the party nominees right today.
Notably, the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued notifications for the Rajya Sabha elections on Thursday, initiating the process to fill 37 vacancies across 10 states, including four seats in Odisha.
The nomination process began on Thursday and will continue until March 5. Scrutiny of nomination papers is scheduled for March 6, while March 9 has been fixed as the last date for nomination paper withdrawal.
