Senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi secured her first term in the Rajya Sabha by winning uncontested from Rajasthan, while BJP National President JP Nadda and three other party candidates also clinched their seats uncontested from Gujarat.
In Rajya Sabha, The BJP holds 115 seats while the Congress has 70 seats in the 200-member assembly.
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi, the former Congress president, will occupy the seat that will become vacant in April, following the completion of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's tenure in the Rajya Sabha.
Sonia opted for Rajya Sabha, following the footsteps of her mother-in-law, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who served in the Upper House from August 1964 to February 1967.
She was first elected as an MP in 1999 during her tenure as Congress president. In a recent announcement to the voters of Rae Bareli, where she has held office since 2004, Sonia Gandhi cited health and age concerns for her decision not to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls of 2024.
However, According to multiple media reports, Sonia Gandhi is expected to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the family stronghold of Raebareli. This would also be the first Lok Sabha election for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
State Wise Candidates - Following the trend of ‘Elected Unopposed’
Rajasthan
In Rajasthan, BJP's Chunni Lal Garasiya and Madan Rathore also secured their seats uncontested. With this, Congress now holds six out of the ten Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan, while BJP holds four.
Gujarat
In Gujarat, Returning Officer Reeta Mehta declared all four BJP candidates, including JP Nadda, elected unopposed to the Upper House of Parliament. The three other candidates who were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha were diamond baron Govindbhai Dholakia, along with BJP leaders Jasvantsinh Parmar and Mayank Nayak. As Tuesday was the deadline for withdrawing nominations, no other candidates had filed nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat's four vacant seats.
Uttarakhand
In Uttarakhand, Mahendra Bhatt, the Uttarakhand BJP chief, has been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha, filling the seat soon to be vacated by Anil Baluni. Bhatt has previously served in positions equivalent to a state minister and took over as the president of Uttarakhand BJP in July 2022, succeeding Madan Kaushik.
Maharashtra
In Maharashtra, All six candidates including Ashok Chavan, who recently joined the BJP after leaving the Congress, have been declared elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha elections. Chavan filed his nomination after severing ties with Congress and joining the BJP.
Among the six candidates, the BJP had three nominees, including Ashok Chavan, while the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, and the NCP led by Ajit Pawar, had one each. The BJP's elected nominees include Chavan, former MLA Medha Kulkarni, and RSS worker Ajit Gopchade. The Shiv Sena's nominee is ex-Congress MP Milind Deora, and the NCP's nominee is Praful Patel. The Opposition nominated Chandrakant Handore, a Dalit leader, as their sole candidate for Congress.
Bihar
In Bihar, All six candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls, with three from the BJP-led NDA and three from the opposition INDIA bloc, were declared elected unopposed to the Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday. The Vidhan Sabha secretariat presented certificates to JD(U)'s Sanjay Kumar Jha, as well as allies BJP's Dharmshila Gupta and Bhim Singh.
Certificates were also given to RJD's Manoj Kumar Jha and Sanjay Yadav, along with Akhilesh Prasad Singh of the Congress. Manoj Kumar Jha and Akhilesh Prasad Singh, who lead the state unit of Congress, will serve their second consecutive terms, while the remaining four will begin their parliamentary journey.
Madhya Pradesh
Following the similar trend of 'Elected Unopposed’, In Madhya Pradesh, All five candidates contesting the Rajya Sabha polls including Union Minister L Murugan and three others from the BJP, were declared unopposed on Tuesday. The Returning Officer announced that all five candidates, comprising four from the BJP and one from the Congress, were elected unopposed.
The BJP candidates include Union Minister L Murugan, Valmiki Dham Ashram head Umesh Nath Maharaj, Kisan Morcha’s national vice president Banshilal Gurjar, and Madhya Pradesh BJP's women wing president Maya Naroliya. The sole nominee from the Congress declared unopposed is MP party unit treasurer Ashok Singh.
A total of 56 members of the Rajya Sabha from 15 states are set to retire in April, and the election to these seats is scheduled for February 27. The deadline for filing nominations was February 15.
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