Odisha: Bjp's Jagannath Pradhan Withdraws Rs by-poll Nomination Paving Way for Mohanta's Re-election

BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan withdrew his nomination for the Rajya Sabha by-poll on Tuesday, paving the way for the party's official candidate Mamata Mohanta's smooth election to the Upper House of Parliament.

Pradhan had filed his nomination hours after Mohanta submitted her papers on August 21.

The candidatures of both Pradhan and Mohanta were found valid during scrutiny, an official said.

"I had filed the nomination papers at the direction of the party. Again, on the instruction of my party, I withdrew my nomination today. The BJP leadership had given me the task, and I carried it out as a disciplined member of the party," he said.

State BJP in-charge Vijay Pal Singh Tomar had said that Pradhan had filed the nomination as a "dummy candidate".

Dummy candidates are often fielded by political parties to have a cushion in case the nomination of the official candidate gets rejected.

Pradhan had contested the assembly elections as a BJP candidate from Bhubaneswar-Central, but was defeated by BJD's Ananta Narayan Jena by a thin margin.

Mohanta, a leader of the Kudumi community from Mayurbhanj district, had quit the BJD and resigned as its Rajya Sabha MP in July, forcing the by-poll. She switched over to the BJP, which nominated her as its candidate.

With no other candidates now in the fray, her re-election is certain.

BJP has 74 MLAs in the 147-member assembly and also enjoys the support of three Independent legislators.

The BJD and the Congress have 51 and 14 MLAs, respectively. Along with one CPM member, the opposition does not have the numbers to corner the seat.

There are 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha, BJD holds eight of them while the BJP has one. One seat got vacant after Mohanta's resignation.

The polling for 12 vacant seats in the Rajya Sabha, including the one from Odisha, was scheduled on September 3.