Patnaik names Narendra Swain as BJD's candidate for RS bypoll

BJD president and chief minister Naveen Patnaik today named Narendra Kumar Swain as the party candidate for the Rajya Sabha bypoll scheduled to be held on December 14.

"I would like to announce name of Narendra Kumar Swain, general secretary of BJD, as the party's candidate for Rajya Sabha bypoll," Patnaik told reporters.

Reacting to his selection, Swain said,"I am grateful to the party chief for his decision. I will work for the party honestly."

The Odisha Assembly yesterday had issued a notification for the Rajya Sabha bypoll.

The Rajya Sabha seat from Odisha fell vacant after demise of BJD member Kalpataru Das on July 25 this year.

Das's tenure as Rajya Sabha member was till April 2, 2020.

While the process for nomination filing began yesterday and will continue till December 3, verification of papers will be done on December 4 and the last date of withdrawal of nominations is on December 7.