BJP names Debashish Samantaray as its RS nominee

Bhubaneswar: The BJP on Thursday nominated Debashish Samantaray as its candidate for Rajya Sabha bypoll, necessitated by his resignation from the Upper House as a BJD member, and subsequent switch to the saffron party on May 25.

Samantaray’s renomination was on expected lines, with the BJP having earlier adopted a similar approach for former BJD MPs Sujeet Kumar and Mamata Mohanta after they quit the regional party and joined the saffron camp.

With 79 MLAs in the 147-member Odisha assembly, the BJP is comfortably placed to ensure Samantaray’s victory. Neither the BJD nor Congress is likely to field a candidate for the bypoll scheduled on June 18. His election will take the BJP’s Rajya Sabha strength from Odisha to four.

Samantaray expressed gratitude to the party leadership. “I thank chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi and state BJP president Manmohan Samal. Since my earlier six-year tenure still had four years left, the decision to send me back to the RS was taken,” he said, adding that he will file his nomination on Friday. Samantaray was earlier elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2024.