S Jaishankar, Derek O’Brien among 11 candidates elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed
No opposing candidates filed nominations against them, and July 17 was the last date to withdraw nominations.
Eleven candidates, including External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’ Brien, were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday.
No voting will be held for six seats in West Bengal, three in Gujarat and one seat in Goa as no opposing candidates have filed nominations. The last date to withdraw nominations was July 17. The elections were slated to be held on July 24.
Three Bharatiya Janata Party leaders who filed their nominations from Gujarat – Jaishankar Babu Desai and Kesaridevsinh Jhala – were elected uncontested. In West Bengal, six candidates from the Trinamool Congress – Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Prakash Chik Baraik, Saket Gokhale, Samirul Islam, Dola Sen and O’ Brien – were elected unopposed.
Gokhale was elected in a bye-election necessitated by the resignation of former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro as a Trinamool Congress MP in April.
Meanwhile, Ananta Rai became the BJP’s first Rajya Sabha MP from West Bengal.
Officially elected as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, an hour ago.
— Saket Gokhale (@SaketGokhale) July 17, 2023
I’m immensely grateful to my leaders @MamataOfficial & @abhishekaitc for this opportunity & their guidance.
I’m proud to be representing the great state of West Bengal & immensely indebted to the people of… pic.twitter.com/ictqfTaX9C
The BJP’s Sadanand Shet Tanavade won the Rajya Sabha seat from Goa.
The Rajya Sabha currently has 245 members. On July 25, seven seats will fall vacant, bringing down the total number of seats to 238. Four out of the seven seats are in Jammu and Kashmir, two are for nominated candidates and one is in Uttar Pradesh.
