All 4 Candidates from Karnataka and all 4 from Gujarat Elected Unopposed to Rajya Sabha
NEW DELHI, June 11: All the four candidates for the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, including three from the Congress and one BJP, while all the four candidates from Gujarat, all BJP, were declared elected unopposed on Thursday.
Among the four elected from Karnataka was the Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge while the former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, who is also retiring, was not repeated.
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly Secretary M.K. Vishalakshi, who is also the returning officer for the Rajya Sabha polls, issued a statement on Thursday declaring them as elected unanimously.
In addition to Mr Kharge, two other Congress candidates elected were Mr Pawan Khera and Mr Mansoor Ali Khan, while Mr M Nagaraja fielded by the BJP was also elected unopposed.
The polling for these seats were scheduled to be held on June 18. However, the need for polling did not arise as there were only four candidates in the fray as against equal number of vacancies. June 11 was the deadline for withdrawal of nominations.
The biennial elections had been necessitated due to the retirement of Mr Deve Gowda, Mr Kharge, and BJP members Iranna Kadadi and Narayana Koragappa on June 25.
In Gujarat, all the four Rajya Sabha candidates, all of them fielded by the BJP, were also elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday as no other nominee was in the fray. Main Opposition Congress did not field any candidate nor was there any other contestant in the race.
The winning candidates are Rajubhai Shukla, Mansinh Parmar, Mukeshbhai Rathwa and Jitendra Kanjariya. Returning Officer and Gujarat Legislative Assembly Secretary Chetan Pandya officially declared them winners after noting that following the expiry of the deadline to withdraw nominations on Thursday, only four candidates remained in the fray for as many seats.
“As the time for withdrawal of nomination papers ended on June 11, there remained only four candidates contesting for four seats. Returning Officer Chetan Pandya declared all these four candidates as elected unopposed,” the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha secretariat said.
The biennial elections to the Upper House of Parliament were necessitated as the six-year term of four sitting Rajya Sabha MPs from Gujarat — Rambhai Mokariya, Narhari Amin, and Ramilaben Bara (all from BJP), and Shaktisinh Gohil (Congress) — is ending on June 21.
However, in Karnataka, the elections for the legislative council has taken an interesting turn as there are eight candidates in the fray for seven seats. None of the candidates withdrew from the contest on the last day of withdrawal on Thursday.
While the ruling Congress has fielded five candidates, including including the Karnataka Pradesh Congress President BK Hariprasad, the Opposition BJP has fielded two and the JD(S) too has fielded a candidate.
Going by the numerical strength of these parties in the Assembly, it appears that there will be a tussle between the fifth candidate of the ruling Congress and the lone candidate of the JD(S). The polling for these posts will be held on June 18 in which the MLAs will exercise their franchise.
