Bhubaneswar, Feb. 14 -- Putting all speculations to rest, the BJP today fielded Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as its candidate for the upcoming elections to three Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha.

While the BJD had earlier announced Debashish Samantaray and Subhasish Khuntia as its candidates for the polls, speculation regarding Ashwini Vaishnaw as the third candidate arose yesterday after his visit to Odisha.

In 2019, Ashwini Vaishnaw was also elected to the Rajya Sabha as a BJP candidate with the help of BJD.

The polling will be held on February 27 between 9 am and 4 pm. The counting of votes will be conducted on the very day at 5 pm.

Notably, three Rajya Sabha MPs from Odisha- Ashwini Vaishnaw, Amar Patnaik and Prashanta Nanda- a...