BJD announces candidates for 4 Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha

 Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday announced the names of the BJD candidates for the elections to four Rajya Sabha seats that are set to fall vacant next month.

Patnaik, who is the president of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), nominated Subhas Singh, Munna Khan, Sujit Kumar and Mamata Mahanta for the Rajya Sabha polls.

Four of the 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha will fall vacant after the completion of tenure of three BJD lawmakers -- Anubhav Mohanty, Narendra Kumar Swain and Sarojini Hembram -- and Congress member Ranjib Biswal on April 2.

Singh has already resigned from the post of chairman of the Odisha Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Board.

Khan, a former Janata Dal leader, was advisor to the Minorities Affairs department while Kumar was advisor to the Special Development Council. Mahanta is a BJD Mahila Wing member from Mayurbhanj district.

The BJD had last year supported BJP candidate Ashwini Vaishnav in the Rajya Sabha polls. The development came following "requests" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Patnaik had said.