Bhubaneswar, Aug 27 (IANS): BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan, who had filed his nomination as an Independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha by-elections in the state, withdrew his papers on Tuesday.

“As a disciplined worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party, I have successfully discharged the responsibility the party had assigned to me. I would like to thank my party leaders for giving me the responsibility,” Pradhan told media persons here.

Pradhan asserted that as per the instructions of the party, he had filed the nomination and was now withdrawing the same. The senior leader also stated that it was BJP’s internal strategy to field him as a candidate. He also thanked the party for selecting him to be a part of this planning.

Notably, Pradhan had contested the recently concluded 2024 general elections from the Bhubaneswar Central Assembly seat but lost to Biju Janata Dal’s Ananta Narayan Jena by only 37 votes.

Just a few hours after BJP leader Mamata Mohanta filed her nomination on August 21, Pradhan too filed a nomination for the by-elections to the Rajya Sabha seat in the state. He had filed the nomination as an independent candidate.

The last date for withdrawal of candidature for the Rajya polls is August 27 while the by-election is scheduled to be held on September 3.

The Rajya Sabha seat in Odisha has been lying vacant after Mamata Mohanta resigned as a BJD member on July 31, two years before the end of her term.

Mohanta also tendered her resignation from the primary membership of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on the same day. She joined the BJP at the party’s headquarters in Delhi the next day.

A noted social activist and leader of the Kudumi community, Mohanta belongs to the Mayurbhanj district in Odisha.

The BJP on August 20 announced Mohanta’s candidature for the by-elections for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Odisha.