NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MARCH 18
As many as six candidates – 2 from AIADMK, 1 from its ally TMC and 3 from DMK from Tamilnadu among 37 candidates were elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha.
Former Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai, former Minister and AIADMK Deputy Coordinator K.P. Munusamy, Tamil Manila Congress Chief and Former Union Minister G.K. Vasan and 3 DMK candidates including Tiruchi Siva, Anthiyur Selvaraj from Tamilnadu were elected unopposed on Wednesday.
National Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh were among 37 candidates elected unopposed on Wednesday to Rajya Sabha as the deadline for withdrawal of nomination ended.
Nominations had been filed for 55 Rajya Sabha seats in 17 states for the March 26 election.
Out of these, candidates were declared elected unopposed to all seven seats in Maharashtra, six seats in Tamil Nadu, two seats each in Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Telangana; four seats in Odisha, five seats each in Bihar and West Bengal; three seats in Assam and one seat in Himachal Pradesh by the returning officers as no other candidates were in the fray.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, who had quit the Congress last year and joined the Shiv Sena, veteran lawyer K T S Tulsi and Congress party’s Deepender Singh Hooda were among other prominent candidates elected to the Upper House.
The BJP bagged seven seats—two in Haryana, three in Maharashtra and one each in Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. The BJP also bagged the seat in Haryana where bypoll was held following the resignation of former Union Minister and party leader Birender Singh.
Its allies JD(U) got two (from Bihar), AIADMK two (Tamil Nadu) and BPF one (Assam). The Trinamool Congress and the Biju Janata Dal got four each in West Bengal and Odisha respectively. The TRS won the two seats in Telangana.
The Congress got four seats—two in Chhattisgarh and one each in Haryana and Maharashtra. Its allies RJD got two (Bihar), DMK got three (Tamil Nadu), NCP bagged two (Maharashtra) and Shiv Sena got one (Maharashtra). The CPI (M) got one in West Bengal, while an independent candidate, backed by the Congress and AIUDF, was also elected in Assam.
Elections will be held on March 26 for the remaining 18 Rajya Sabha seats—four each in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, three each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, two in Jharkhand and one each in Manipur and Meghalaya.
NCP leader Pawar and Union minister of state for social justice Ramdas Athawale, both sitting members, were among seven elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra. RPI leader Athawale was backed by the BJP.
Five candidates in fray for four seats in Gujarat
Gujarat is set to witness a keen contest for four Rajya Sabha seats on March 26 as none of the five candidates in the fray, three from the BJP and two from the Congress withdrew their nominations on Wednesday.
On the last day of withdrawal of papers on Wednesday, three “dummy” candidates of the BJP took back their nominations. They were Kiritsinh Rana, Dinesh Makwana and Amit P Shah. “Now, there are five contesting candidates for four Rajya Sabha seats. Polling will be held on March 26. Counting of votes will commence after 5 pm on the same day,” said Returning Officer for the polls C B Pandya.
The BJP has fielded Abhay Bhardwaj, Ramilaben Bara and Narhari Amin, while the Congress has given tickets to its senior leaders Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki.
Five Congress MLAs have resigned from the assembly over the last few days, diminishing the party’s chances to win both the seats. Now, with 68 MLAs and one vote of independent MLA Jignesh Mevani,the Congress may have to settle for only one seat despite fielding two candidates.
In the 182-member Assembly, the BJP’s strength is 103, followed by 68 of the Congress, two of the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), one of the NCP and one Independent (Mevani). Two seats are vacant.
Members of a state’s Assembly vote in Rajya Sabha polls.Accusing the BJP of indulging in “poaching” of its MLAs, the Congress has shifted all its 68 legislators to the party-ruled Rajasthan.
While Mevani has made it clear he will vote for the Congress, the BTP, led by tribal leader Chhotu Vasava, has not opened its cards yet.
Though the NCP is in an alliance with the Congress in Maharashtra and sits in opposition in the Gujarat Assembly, its lone MLA Kandhal Jadeja has announced he will vote for the BJP.
