Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Biswajit Daimary (BPF) and Ajit Bhuyan (Congress-AIUDF) will go to the Rajya Sabha uncontested unless they fail the scrutiny test on Monday or decide to withdraw from the race.

Kalita and Bhuyan filed their papers on Friday, the last day of filing nominations, while Daimary had filed his on Wednesday, making them three candidates against three vacant seats which would have gone to the polls on March 26.

There was a buzz about a contest for the third seat between Bhuyan and another senior journalist Atanu Bhuyan, who had collected his nomination papers on Thursday, but the latter did not turn up to submit his papers on Friday, thus paving the way for the common candidate’s election to the third seat uncontested. “That will not be required now if there is no scrutiny glitch or withdrawal,” a Congress insider said.

To win in the 126-member House, a candidate needs 32 votes. The BJP and its allies (BPF and AGP) have 86 votes and an Independent’s support while the Congress-AIUDF combine has 37. Two seats in the Assembly are vacant.

The term of the three Rajya Sabha seats will expire on April 6. March 18 is the last date for withdrawal of papers.

Leaders of the Congress, AIUDF and Left parties flanked Ajit Kumar Bhuyan as he submitted his nomination papers. “Today, the Congress and the AIUDF presented themselves as a strong Opposition. I think my winning is certain,” Bhuyan said after filing his nomination papers.

BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said that by deciding to enter the Rajya Sabha with the support of “communal” AIUDF, Bhuyan had “polluted” the intellectual society.

Bhuyan responded by saying that it was not the AIUDF but the BJP which was the “real communal party”. “There is no need for an explanation about which party is communal. If the AIUDF is communal, then they (the BJP) should take action. It is they who are indulging in communal politics and pointing fingers at the AIUDF.”

Bhuyan, a critic of anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), said during his four-decades long journalistic career he had received several proposals to join politics. “But I did not give importance to the proposals. Now the situation is different. We have seen how adamantly this government imposed CAA on us, ignoring widespread resentment against the contentious law. Sending me to Rajya Sabha is just a part of the anti-CAA struggle,” he said.

Bhuyan reiterated that he was not a member of either the AIUDF or the Congress, both of which are against the CAA.

Kalita was flanked by chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Assam BJP president Ranjeet Kumar Dass and North East Democratic Alliance (Neda) convener Himanta Biswa Sarma while submitting his nomination papers.

Kalita, a former Congress veteran who had joined the BJP in August last year, thanked the BJP’s central and state leadership for nominating him.