BJP leader Mamata Mohanta was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Odisha, following the withdrawal of the party's alternate candidate, Jagannath Pradhan, who had initially filed his nomination as an Independent.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi extended his congratulations to Mohanta after her seamless reelection to the Rajya Sabha.
The absence of contenders from opposition parties Biju Janata Dal and Congress ensured Mohanta's unopposed victory.
The by-election for the sole Rajya Sabha seat in Odisha was set for September 3, but Pradhan retracted his nomination earlier that day. Pradhan, who had submitted his nomination as an Independent on August 21, did so shortly after Mohanta's own filing for the Rajya Sabha seat.
In a statement to the press, Pradhan expressed, “As a dedicated member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, I have fulfilled the duty assigned to me. I am grateful to the party leaders for entrusting me with this role.”
Pradhan, who recently contested the Bhubaneswar Central Assembly seat, lost narrowly to Biju Janata Dal’s Ananta Narayan Jena by just 37 votes.
Meanwhile, Mohanta resigned from the Rajya Sabha and from her primary membership in Biju Janata Dal on July 31, stepping down from her parliamentary position two years before her term ended. She joined the BJP the following day in New Delhi.
The BJP announced her candidacy for the Rajya Sabha seat on August 20. Mohanta, an active social worker and leader of the Kudumi community from Mayurbhanj district, previously served as a member of the Zilla Parishad in Mayurbhanj from 2012 to 2017.
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