Rajya Sabha By-elections See Key Figures Elected Unopposed

Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian, along with senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and former minister Upendra Kushwaha, were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Other candidates declared winners after the nomination withdrawal deadline included BJP leaders Kiran Choudhry from Haryana, Mamata Mohanata from Odisha, and Manan Kumar Mishra from Bihar.

Unopposed Elections in Various States

The bypolls were announced for 12 seats that became vacant as sitting members, including Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Jyotiraditya Scindia, were recently elected to the Lok Sabha. Four candidates—Dhairyasheel Patil and Nitin Patil from Maharashtra, and Rameswar Teli and Mission Ranjan Das from Assam—were declared winners on Monday.

From Rajasthan, Union Minister of State and BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu was elected unopposed. Three candidates had filed nominations, but one was a BJP dummy candidate. The nomination paper of independent candidate Babita Wadhwani was cancelled during scrutiny on August 22. BJP's dummy candidate Sunil Kothari withdrew his nomination on Friday, making Bittu the only candidate in the bye-election.

Strengthening NDA's Position

With the election of eight members from the BJP and two from alliance partners, the NDA's strength in the upper house has increased to 112. The effective strength of the 245-member Rajya Sabha is currently 240. Even with the support of six nominated members, the ruling NDA will fall short of the majority mark.

In Madhya Pradesh, Union minister and BJP nominee George Kurian was declared elected unopposed by the returning officer. The vacancy arose following Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia's election to the Lok Sabha in June. Besides Kurian, two others had filed their nomination papers. However, one nominee's papers were rejected during scrutiny, while another withdrew his candidature on August 27.

Key Winners Across States

Kiran Choudhry from Haryana was declared elected unopposed after switching over from Congress to BJP. She received her certificate at 4:33 pm by Returning Officer Saket Kumar at the Haryana Vidhan Sabha secretariat. Choudhry represented the Tosham seat in the Haryana Assembly.

From Odisha, BJP candidate Mamata Mohanata returned to the Rajya Sabha after winning unopposed in a by-election necessitated by her resignation as a BJD MP and switching sides. The opposition BJD and Congress did not field any candidates. BJP fielded Jagannath Pradhan as a dummy candidate, but he withdrew his nomination papers before the deadline.

In Bihar, former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha and Supreme Court lawyer Manan Kumar Mishra were elected unopposed. Kushwaha heads Rashtriya Lok Morcha, while Mishra is a BJP leader. They were declared elected unopposed after no other candidates filed nominations for the two seats.

Upcoming Election in Tripura

The winner from Tripura will be decided by voting on September 3. Tripura BJP president Rajib Bhattacharjee is up against CPIM's former MLA Sudhan Das from the state. Four seats are vacant in Jammu and Kashmir, which is yet to elect its assembly.

Senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi was declared unopposed from Telangana on Tuesday. He is also a Supreme Court lawyer. The opposition Congress decided not to field a candidate in this by-election.

The Rajya Sabha seats for which by-elections were held became vacant after Vivek Thakur of the BJP and Misa Bharti of the RJD were elected to the Lok Sabha. The BJPs allies in the Upper House include JDU, NCP, JDS, RPIA, Shiv Sena, RLD, RLM, NPP, PMK, Taamil Manila Congress and UPPL.

After being elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha today, Upendra Kushwaha wrote on X: "I have once again got the opportunity to enter the prestigious Upper House of Parliament." He added that he would work tirelessly with his party to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of making India a developed nation and Bihar a developed state.

Thus far, 11 candidates have been elected unopposed across various states.