Bhubaneswar, April 2: After the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued notification for elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats, including three from Odisha, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders have started lobbying for the vacant seats.

 The elections for the vacant seats will be held on June 10, the ECI said.

The tenure of three BJD MPs- Prasanna Acharya, Bhaskar Rao and Sasmit Patra will come to an end in the Upper House in July.

The number of ruling BJD in the state Assembly shows that all three seats will go to the ruling party. 

According to party sources, several leaders are in the race to go to the upper house.

It is speculated that party supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is likely to renominate Sasmit Patra to the Rajya Sabha.

The power corridor is abuzz with other names including Manas Ranjan Mangaraj, Pradeep Majhi, Sulata Deo, and Shreemayee Mishra.

Besides, the name of Susmita Bagchi, noted writer and chairperson of Mo School programme, is also doing the rounds.