Tribal activist Naveens third RS candidate

Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik is set to nominate the name of tribal activist Tulasi Munda as the third candidate of his party for the Rajya Sabha polls.

Awarded Padma Shri in 2001 for spreading literacy among tribals,Munda was part of the Bhoodan movement of Acharya Vinoba Bhave. For the past three decades,Mundas Adivasi Vikas Samiti is working for the uplift of tribals at Serenda in Keonjhar.

The BJD would romp home in two RS seats as it has the required first preference votes (37 each). Naveen has announced renomination of sitting RS MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra and the second seat is expected to go to a Dalit. But it is the third that Naveen,with 103 party MLAs and two Independents,is not sure of as he needs six more to see his candidate through.