Bhubaneswar, February 14: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday announced the name of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as Rajya Sabha candidate from Odisha. Vaishnaw will now seek re-nomination to the Rajya Sabha for the second time from the eastern State.
Minutes after the BJP announcement, the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD announced that it will support Vaishnaw’s candidature “for the larger interest of the state’s railways and telecom development”.
“Biju Janata Dal will support the candidature of Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon’ble Union Minister, Railways, Communication and Information & Technology for the larger interest of State’s railways and telecom development in the ensuing election to Rajya Sabha-2024,” read the BJD release signed by party president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
This is akin to his first stint, when the former bureaucrat got elected unopposed to the Upper House in June 2019 despite the BJP not having adequate strength in the State Assembly.
The ruling BJD, despite having the numbers, fielded only two candidates – former MLA Debashish Samantaray and youth leader Subhashis Khuntia – for the Rajya Sabha.
Originally a native of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, Vaishnaw, during his earlier days as an IAS officer, had served as district collector of Balasore and Cuttack.
