AMN/ WEB DESK
41 candidates have been declared elected unopposed during the Biennial Elections to Rajya Sabha seats from different states. including veteran Congress leader P Chidambaram, former Congress leader Kapil Sibal, and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)’s Jayant Chaudhary. They were declared elected unopposed by the concerned State Returning Officers after the last date for the withdrawal of candidature last evening. The newly elected candidates include 11 from Uttar Pradesh, six from Tamil Nadu, five from Bihar, four from Andhra Pradesh, three each from Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, two each from Chattisgarh, Punjab, Telangana and Jharkhand, along with one from Uttarkhand.
Out of these 41 seats, BJP bagged 14 seats- eight from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh and one from Jharkhand, one from Uttarakhand. Congress bagged four seats including two from Chhattisgarh and one each from Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh. YSR Congress candidates elected unopposed on four seats from Andhra Pradesh while DMK got three seats from Tamil Nadu and Biju Janta Dal got three seats from Odisha. AIADMK won two seats from Tamil Nadu while Telangana Rashtra Samiti got two seats from Telangana and Aam Aadmi Party secured two seats from Punjab. Rashtriya Janta Dal also won two seats from Bihar while Samajwadi Party, Janta Dal (Secular) and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha got one seat each from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand respectively.
Former Congress party leader Kapil Sibal has been elected as an independent candidate and Rashtriya Lok Dal President Jayant Chaudhary has also been declared elected. Both have been elected with Samajwadi Party support.
After 41 candidates won the election unopposed, the elections will now be held for only 16 seats including six seats in Maharashtra, four each in Rajasthan and Karnataka along with two in Haryana. Elections for these seats are scheduled to be held on 10th of June and results will be declared on the same day.