Union Petroleum Minister and BJP candidate Hardeep Singh Puri was on Thursday declared elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha bypoll from Madhya Pradesh, an official said.
On the last day of the withdrawal of nominations, Puri (74), who was the sole candidate in the fray as the papers of other two nominees were rejected during scrutiny, was declared elected to the Upper House of Parliament by Returning Officer Umesh Sharma.
On the last day for the scrutiny of papers, the nominations of the other two candidates, Kante Sayanna and Rajkumar Lohani, who was backed by the Opposition Congress, were rejected. The bypoll, if necessary, was to take place on November 12.
Madhya Pradesh BJP president Hemant Khandelwal collected Puri’s certificate of election from the returning officer in the presence of party MLA Rameshwar Sharma.
“Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, the official candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has been elected unopposed in the by-election for the vacant Rajya Sabha seat,” Khandelwal later told reporters.
“The process of Puri’s unopposed election was completed and today we all are present here to receive his election certificate. I, Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda, MLAs Rameshwar Sharma and Bhagwandas Sabnani, state BJP general secretary Rahul Kothari and Bhopal district president Ravindra Yati were authorised by the party to receive the election certificate,” he said.
Khandelwal congratulated BJP workers on the unopposed election of the career diplomat-turned-politician.
Khandelwal and state BJP organisation general secretary Chandrashekhar, after receiving the election certificate of Puri, called on Chief Minister Mohan Yadav at his residence and apprised him about the development.
The Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant after the resignation of former Union minister L Murugan from the Upper House last month, necessitating the bypoll. Murugan’s term was due to end on April 2, 2030.
The BJP then fielded Puri as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha by-election.
(PTI)
