Bhubaneswar, June 3 (IANS) Senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders Prasanna Acharya, Bishnu Das and N. Bhaskar Rao were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
Returning officer A.K. Sarangi said the three BJD candidates were elected uncontested as nomination papers of three Independent candidates were rejected on June 1 as they did not have the required proposers for their candidature.
Election was to be held for three Rajya Sabha seats on June 11.
The opposition Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not file any candidate as they do not have the required numbers to elect their nominees.
The Rajya Sabha election was necessitated as three MPs -- Pyarimohan Mohapatra, Baishnab Parida, and Bhupinder Singh -- completed their tenure on July 1.
According to the affidavits filed by the candidates, all the three BJD candidates are crorepatis.
While N. Bhaskar Rao topped the list with possessing around Rs 36 crore of movable and immovable assets, Acharya has Rs 4.47 crore immovable properties and Rs 80.91 lakh movable assets in his name.
Bishnu Das has immovable assets of Rs 1.29 crore and movable assets of Rs 13.73 lakh in his name. Both Das and Acharya were ministers in the Naveen Patnaik government.
