Bhubaneswar, March 5 -- The contest for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha intensified on Thursday as candidates from the BJP and BJD, along with former union Minister Dilip Ray, filed their nomination papers at the State Assembly.
The ruling BJP fielded Manmohan Samal and sitting Rajya Sabha member Sujit Kumar, while the BJD nominated Santrupta Mishra and noted urologist Dr Datteswar Hota. Ray entered the race as an Independent candidate with the backing of the BJP.
Earlier in the day, BJD nominees Mishra and Hota filed their nomination papers in the presence of BJD president and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Odisha Congress President Bhakta Charan Das, along with other party leaders.
Later in the afternoon, ...