Bhubaneswar, May 18: Today BJD spokesperson and party’s RS nominee Pratap Deb was declared the unchallenged winner for the RS lone seat from Odisha. The announcement was made officially by the returning officer for the by-election. On May 15, Pratap Deb had nominated himself for the Rajya Sabha election and as the opposition did not have any candidate, he was automatically elected. The election took place following the resignation of Bishnu Charan Das on Mar 21 who is now appointed as the Deputy Chairman of Odisha State Planning Board. Deb had been the minister in Naveen’s ex-Cabinet from 2009 to 2014 but lost the Assembly seat from Aul. He is now currently the party’s spokesperson and chairman of Odisha State Housing Board.
