41 candidates win unopposed in Rajya Sabha elections
What's the story
Forty-one candidates across party lines from 11 states have been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on Friday, the last date for withdrawal of candidature for the elections to the Upper House of the Parliament next week. Notably, elections for 57 seats in Rajya Sabha, spread across 15 states and union territories, are slated to be held on June 10.
Details
All 11 candidates win unopposed in UP
In Uttar Pradesh, all 11 candidates have won unopposed. The elected candidates include BJP leaders Darshan Singh, Babu Ram Nishad, Mithilesh Kumar, Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, K Lakshman, Lakshmi Kant Bajpai, Surendra Singh Nagar, and Sangita Yadav, as well as Javed Ali Khan of Samajwadi Party. Independent candidate Kapil Sibal and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary, both supported by the Samajwadi Party, were also elected.
Information
Unopposed wins in other states
In Tamil Nadu, six candidates won unopposed, while in Bihar five have won without any contest. Similarly, four candidates in Andhra Pradesh, three each in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, two each in Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Telangana, and Jharkhand, and one candidate in Uttarakhand won without a contest.
Contest
Keen contest in Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra
As per reports, there will be a keen contest for Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, and Maharashtra as none of the candidates had withdrawn their candidature on Friday. In Haryana, two seats will go to the polls, while in Rajasthan elections will be held for four seats. In Maharashtra and Karnataka, six and four RS seats, respectively, will go to the polls.
Candidates
Candidates who are facing elections
BJP's Krishna Pal Panwar, Congress's Ajay Maken, and BJP-backed independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma are in the contest in Haryana. In Rajasthan, Congress's Mukul Wasnik, Randeep Singh Surjewala, and Pramod Tiwari are contesting against BJP's Ghanshyam Tiwari and BJP-backed independent candidate Shubhash Chandra. In Maharashtra, Piyush Goyal, Anil Bonde and Dhananjay Mahadik are BJP's candidates, while Shiv Sena is fielding Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar.
Information
Candidates in Karnataka
In Karnataka, BJP's candidates include Nirmala Sitharaman, Jaggesh, and Lahar Singh Siroya. Meanwhile, Congress has fielded Jairam Ramesh and Mansoor Ali Khan as its candidates there. There is also an independent candidate in Karnataka, named Kupendra Reddy.