Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidates for by-polls to three Rajya Sabha seats of Odisha, Amar Patnaik and Sasmit Patra today filed their nominations at the State Assembly here.

BJD’s IT Cell Chairman & spokesperson Amar Patnaik and spokesperson Sasmit Patra filed their nomination papers before the concerned Returning Officer in the presence of BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha.

The BJP has fielded former bureaucrat Ashwini Baishnab as its nominee for the Rajya Sabha by-polls.

Polling will be held on July 5 between 9 am and 4 pm. Counting of votes will take place at 5 pm on the very day.

The three seats which fell vacant were held by BJD’s Achyutananda Samanta, Pratap Keshari Deb and Soumya Ranjan Patnaik. While Samanta was elected from Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat, Deb and Patnaik won from Aul and Khandapada Assembly segments in the recently held elections.

Amar Patnaik and Sasmit Patra have filed nomination for vacant seats of Achyuta Samanta and Pratap Keshari Deb, respectively.

Samanta and Patnaik’s term in the Upper House was to end in April, 2024 while Deb’s term in the Rajya Sabha was till July, 2022.