NDA Sweeps Rajya Sabha Polls as 19 Candidates Win Unopposed

New Delhi: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leader Pawan Khera, along with BJP leaders Satish Poonia and Tarun Chugh, were among 24 candidates declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Elections for 24 of the 27 Rajya Sabha seats were unopposed. Of these, 19 seats went to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates, while the remaining five went to the Congress.

What is the buzz?

The 24 candidates elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday included Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party media cell chief Pawan Khera, besides BJP leaders Satish Poonia and Tarun Chugh. NDA candidates were elected unopposed on 19 seats, while Congress candidates were elected unopposed on the remaining five. Elections for two seats in Jharkhand and one in Mizoram will be held on June 18.

Who are unopposed elected candidates?

BJP candidates Tarun Chugh and Rajneesh Agarwal and BJP-supported independent candidate Mahesh Kewat were elected unopposed from Madhya Pradesh. Three Congress candidates from Karnataka, Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC Secretary Mansoor Ali Khan and Pawan Khera, and BJP candidate M. Nagaraja, were declared unanimously elected to the Rajya Sabha. 

What about other states?

In Gujarat, all four candidates of the ruling BJP, Raju Shukla, Mansinh Parmar, Mukesh Rathwa, and Jitendra Kanjariya, were declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha. In Andhra Pradesh, all four NDA candidates were elected unopposed. Returning Officer R. Vanitha Rani declared the election of TDP leaders Bhashyam Ramakrishna, Chintakayala Vijay, and Sana Satish Babu, and Jana Sena's Lingamaneni Ramesh to the Upper House. 

BJP candidates Satish Poonia and Alka Gurjar and Congress candidate Neeraj Dangi were elected unopposed from Rajasthan. National People's Party National Vice President James K. Sangma was also elected unopposed to Meghalaya's lone Rajya Sabha seat. In Manipur, BJP state chief Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha. In Arunachal Pradesh, senior BJP leader Tai Tagak was elected unopposed to the state's lone Rajya Sabha seat.
What 

NCP's Rajendra Jain was elected unopposed to the by-election for Maharashtra's lone Rajya Sabha seat vacated by Sunetra Pawar's resignation. BJP candidate Debashish Samantaray was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in Odisha. Congress's Praveen Chakravarty was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu.