RS Polls: BJP Ends Odisha Suspense With Ashwini Vaishnaw's Candidature, L Murugan Gets MP Seat

Rajya Sabha Elections 2024: Ashwini Vaishnaw was elected to the Upper House in 2019 with the BJD's support.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will fight the Rajya Sabha polls from Odisha.

Source : PTI

Rajya Sabha Elections 2024: The BJP has ended the suspense over the third Rajya Sabha seat from Odisha by approving Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's candidature from Odisha. Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting L Murugan has been selected to represent the BJP from Madhya Pradesh.

भारतीय जनता पार्टी की केन्द्रीय चुनाव समिति ने दो राज्यों में होने वाले आगामी राज्यसभा के द्विवार्षिक चुनाव हेतु निम्नलिखित नामों पर अपनी स्वीकृति प्रदान की है। pic.twitter.com/HcCb8iRDVj

— BJP (@BJP4India) February 14, 2024

Ashwini Vaishnaw was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2019 with the support of Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal. With 111 MLAs, BJD is the only party in the Odisha Assembly that has the capability to send three candidates to the Rajya Sabha. While two BJD candidates filed their Rajya Sabha nominations on Wednesday, the third candidate remained undecided. After BJD's Debashish Samantray and Subhasish Kuntia filed their nomination papers, a senior BJD leader said that the party was still mulling about the third seat's candidate and Patnaik would make the final decision.

Ashwini Vaishnaw Gets BJD's Backing Again

Ashwini Vaishnaw's candidature has been backed by the BJD, an official statement by the party read on Wednesday.

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will support the candidature of Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, "for the larger interest of State's Railways and Telecom Development" in the ensuing Election to Rajya Sabha - 2024. pic.twitter.com/OfTnvCpGoX

— ANI (@ANI) February 14, 2024

Hailing from Rajasthan, Ashwini Vaishnaw is a former IAS officer, with a long service record in Odisha's Cuttack and Balasore districts. He joined the BJP in 2019 and became a Rajya Sabha MP with the BJD's support. He has been holding the portfolios of Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, and Railways since 2021.

BJP Nominates L Murugan From MP

The saffron party has named L Murugan as the party's candidate from Madhya Pradesh. Dr L Murugan is currently serving as the Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying. 

Before assuming the post of the Union Minister, he served as the BJP state president of Tamil Nadu. He has also served as the vice-chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes from 2017 to 2020.

(This is a developing story and will be updated as details come in.)