Bhubaneswar/UNI: Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw filed a nomination for the Rajya Sabha seat from Odisha on Thursday.

Accompanied by state BJP unit president Prafulla Samal and 13 party MLAs, Vaishnaw went to the Odisha Legislative Assembly and filed his nomination papers at 1105 hours as a BJP candidate on the last day of filing nominations for Rajya Sabha elections.

He is the third candidate to file a nomination for the Rajya Sabha seat in Odisha.

Earlier, on Tuesday, former BJD MLA Debashish Samantaray and Biju Yuva Janata Dal Vice President Subhasish Khuntia had filed their nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha seats.

Although the ruling BJD has supported the candidature of the Union Railways minister, none of the BJD MLAs or leaders were present in the Assembly when Vaishnaw filed his nomination papers.

On Monday, BJD President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced that his party would support the candidature of Vaishnaw in the greater interest of the state’s development in the railway and telecom sectors.

In 1999, the ruling BJD also supported the candidature of Ashwini Vaishnaw for the Rajya Sabha seat from Odisha.

The terms of Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Prashant Nanda, and Amar Pattnaik, who were elected to the Rajya Sabha from Odisha, will expire in April, 2024.

Going by the strength of the ruling BJD in the Odisha Legislative Assembly, it will be a foregone conclusion that all three candidates will be elected to the Upper House.

In the 147-member Odisha Assembly, the BJD has 114 members, followed by the BJP (22), Congress (9), CPM, and Independents (one each).