Hardeep Singh Puri Elected Unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh on Thursday after no other candidate remained in the contest.

BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal received Puri’s certificate of election from Returning Officer Umesh Kumar Sharma at the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Bhopal. Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda and BJP MLAs Rameshwar Sharma and Bhagwandas Sabnani were also present.

TWO NOMINATIONS REJECTED

Puri’s nomination papers were accepted on November 3 after the Returning Officer dismissed objections raised by Congress leaders and independent candidates.

The nomination papers of the two other candidates, Rajkumar Lohani and Kante Sayanna, were rejected during scrutiny.

According to the Returning Officer’s order, Sayanna’s nomination was rejected because he failed to secure the mandatory signatures of 10 per cent of the elected members of the state Legislative Assembly or 10 elected members, whichever was fewer.

Lohani’s nomination was rejected for failing to submit the mandatory Form 26 affidavit by the 3 pm deadline on November 2.

The deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended at 3 pm on Thursday. With no other candidate left in the fray, Puri was declared elected unopposed.

SEAT FELL VACANT AFTER L MURUGAN’S RESIGNATION

The Rajya Sabha seat became vacant after Union Minister of State L Murugan resigned on October 14. His term in the Upper House was originally scheduled to end on April 2, 2030.

Puri had filed his nomination papers at the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly on October 31 in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, Deputy Chief Ministers Rajendra Shukla and Jagdish Devda, BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal, state ministers and other party leaders.

With inputs from ANI