BJP's Sonowal, TMC's Sushmita Dev: 5 Candidates Elected Unopposed to Rajya Sabha

With the last day of filing nominations for the bypolls to seven vacant Rajya Sabha seats on Monday, 27 September, five candidates were elected unopposed to the seats.

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Sarbananda Sonowal from Assam, S Selvaganapathy from Puducherry, and L Murugan from Madhya Pradesh were elected to the Upper House unopposed, as was Trinamool Congress' Sushmita Dev from West Bengal and Congress' Rajani Patil from Maharashtra.

The by-elections to two seats from Tamil Nadu and one each from Assam, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Puducherry and Maharashtra are scheduled to be held on 4 October.

Sarbananda Sonowal From Assam

Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Assam.

There are seven seats in Rajya Sabha for Assam, and with the election of the former Chief Minister, the BJP now has three seats in the Upper House, and its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) with one seat.

Two seats are with the Congress and one held by an independent Member of Parliament.

He filed his nomination after the seat fell vacant following the resignation of Assam Assembly Speaker Biswajit Daimary due to the state Assembly elections early this year.

Sushmita Dev From West Bengal

Former Congress-turned-Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sushmita Dev was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal.

In August, the former All India Mahila Congress president had joined the TMC.

Dev is a former Lok Sabha MP from Silchar district in Assam and in the Assam polls this year, she lost to BJP's Rajdeep Roy.

S Selvaganapathy From Puducherry

S Selvaganapathy was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Puducherry without contest, creating a milestone for the BJP, as this is the first time the BJP got representation from Puducherry in the Upper House.

Since 1962, Selvaganapathy is the 10th member from Puducherry to the Upper House.

BJP Chief JP Nadda called the election "historic" as S Selvaganapathy is now the first BJP MP in the Rajya Sabha from Puducherry.

L Murugan From Madhya Pradesh

Union minister and BJP leader L Murugan was declared elected to the lone seat in Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh without contest.

With Murugan's election, the number of BJP MPs to Rajya Sabha from the state rose to eight.

After Union Minister Thawarchand Gehlot's resignation following his appointment as the governor of Karnataka in July, the seat fell vacant, and by-election was mandated.

Rajani Patil From Maharashtra

With BJP's withdrawal of its candidate Sanjay Upadhyay, Congress candidate Rajani Patil is all set to be chosen to the seat in Maharashtra.

Following the death of sitting Congress MP Rajiv Satav in May this year, the seat fell vacant.

"Congress leaders Nana Patole and Balasaheb Thorat had met Devendra Fadnavis, requesting that this poll should happen unopposed as per Maharashtra's tradition. So, as per our core committee's decision, I withdrew my nomination from upcoming Rajya Sabha bypoll," BJP candidate Sanjay Upadhyay told ANI earlier on Monday.

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