Bhubaneswar: BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan, who had filed nomination as an Independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha by-elections in the state, withdrew his papers on Tuesday.
Jagannath Pradhan had filed nomination on August 21 in the presence of 10 BJP MLAs.
BJP’s official nominee Mamata Mohanta also submitted her nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha on the same day. Several senior BJP leaders, including Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, BJP State president Manmohan Samal and Vijay Singh Tomar were present when she submitted the nomination papers to the Returning Officer.
Jagannath withdrew his nomination papers on Tuesday clearing the path for Mamata go to the Rajya Sabha again.
On April 3, 2020, Mamata was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a BJD nominee. However, she resigned from Rajya Sabha and BJD and joined the BJP.
After withdrawing the nomination papers, BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan said, “I submitted the nomination papers as per the decision of the party leadership. Now, the party has directed me to withdraw my nomination and as a disciplined worker of the party, I have followed its directive. I am a party disciplinarian.”
