Sujeet Kumar, a former Member of Parliament from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), has officially filed his papers to run for the Rajya Sabha again, but this time as a candidate for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha. His name was announced by the BJP’s Central Election Committee, and he was joined by important leaders like Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and BJP state president Manmohan Samal when he submitted his nomination.
Kumar submitted two sets of nomination papers with the support of 30 MLAs, which means many members of the state assembly are backing him. Chief Minister Majhi is listed as a supporter for one set, and Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo for the other.
He told reporters that he has done a lot of good work during his previous term in the Rajya Sabha. He said he plans to focus on improving Kalahandi district and the KBK (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) region by enhancing infrastructure, road connections, tourism, and more.
Officials stated that Kumar is currently the only person to submit nomination papers for this Rajya Sabha by-election, which was caused by his own resignation from the BJD in September. He left his position after deciding to join the BJP.
The Election Commission has scheduled these by-elections for December 20, with December 10 as the last day to file nominations. Given the BJP’s strong presence in the Odisha Assembly, where they hold 78 out of 147 seats, Kumar is likely to win this election easily.
This is not the first time a former BJD MP has joined the BJP; Mamata Mohanta from the Kudumi community also resigned from the BJD, joined the BJP, and was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha. Currently, the number of BJD members in the Rajya Sabha has dropped to seven after these resignations.
Leave a Reply