BHUBANESWAR, June 25 -- The two Biju Janata Dal (BJD) candidates and the sole Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for by-elections to three Rajya Sabha seats from the State filed their nomination papers at the State Assembly here on Monday.
BJD's IT Cell chairman and spokesperson Amar Patnaik and spokesperson Sasmit Patra filed their nominations before the Returning Officer, the Assembly Secretary, in the presence of party supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha.
BJP candidate Ashwini Vaishnaw, a former bureaucrat, also filed his nominations before the Returning Officer on the day.
Vaishnaw, who was Private Secretary to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had joined the BJP only...