BJD's Singhdeo and Singh elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed

New Delhi, June 27: Former ministers and the ruling BJD candidates- A U Singhdeo and Bhupinder Singh- were on Thursday declared elected to the

from

.

"Both Singhdeo and Singh have been declared elected as no other candidate filed their papers for the elections," A K Sarangi, Returning Officer and Secretary of the Odisha Assembly, told reporters here, adding that there was no need for polling.

Thursday was the last date for withdrawal of nomination.

With these elections, the strength of BJD in the Rajya Sabha has gone up to 7

The by-elections for the two Rajya Sabha seats were required in view of the resignation of Rabinarayan Mohapatra and Sashi Bhusan Behera from their membership of the Upper House of the Parliament, Sarangi said.

Both Mohapatra and Behera resigned from the Rajya Sabha after they were elected to the State Assembly.

While Bhupinder Singh has been elected in place of Behera whose Rajya Sabha tenure was scheduled to end in 2016, Singh got the Rajya Sabha berth till 2018 in place of Mohapatra.

With the election of Singh and Singhdeo, the strength of BJD in the Rajya Sabha has gone up to seven.

PTI