By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, May 12, 2016 : Odisha chief minister and ruling Biju Janata Dal [BJD] supremo Naveen Patnaik will decide the names of the party candidates for three Rajya Sabha seats for which the election will be held on June 11.

The Election Commission on Thursday announced elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats across 14 states on June 11. In Odisha, election will be held for three seats as the tenure of Pyarimohan Mahapatra, Baisnab Parida and Bhupinder Singh will expire on July 1.

Priority will be given to party men with clean image while chosing candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. “The person having a clean image who can properly raise his/her voice in the Parliament for the larger interest of Odisha, will be selected as the candidate for Rajya Sabha. Our party supremo and chief minister Naveen Patnaik will take a final decision on the selection of the candidates in consultation with the senior leaders of the party,” BJD spokesperson Pratap Jena told media persons here on Thursday.

Interestingly, the Opposition Congress and BJP have not decided whether to field candidates for the Rajya Sabha as the BJD is sure to win all three seats given the numbers in the Assembly.
While Mahapatra and Parida were elected to the Upper House on June 17, 2010, Singh had replaced Sashi Bhusan Behera as the Rajya Sabha member on June 26, 2014.

Out of a total of 10 Rajya Sabha seats for Odisha, the BJD, Congress and the Independents have seven, one and two seats respectively.