New Delhi: Amar Patnaik and Sasmit Patra of Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) took oath as the Rajya Sabha members here today.
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu administered oath to the both BJD leaders, who were elected unanimously in the Rajya Sabha bypolls in Odisha.
The BJD has nominated its IT Cell chief Amar Patnaik and spokesperson Sasmit Patra to the Rajya Sabha in place of Achyutananda Samanta and Pratap Deb respectively.
Earlier, the BJD-backed BJP candidate Ashwini Vaishnaw was sworn-in as the member of Upper House of the Parliament.
He is representing Odisha in place of Soumya Ranjan Patnaik.
The by-election to the three seats were necessiated after Samanta, Deb and Patnaik quit the seats after winning the recently held Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.