Kamal Haasan was among six individuals who will represent Tamil Nadu in the Rajya Sabha.
According to officials, the Opposition parties did not field nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections, reported PTI. “BJP’s Kanad Purkayastha and Asom Gana Parishad’s Birendra Prasad Baishya have been declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha as there is no opposition candidate,” the official added.
The deadline for filing nominations was Thursday, June 12.
Assam has seven Rajya Sabha seats. The BJP currently holds four seats, while its allies, the AGP and the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), each occupy one seat. One seat is occupied by an Independent member.
In Tamil Nadu, Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) President Kamal Haasan and five others were declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha. According to ANI, returning officer Subramani handed over the election certificates to the candidates at the Chennai Secretariat.
Apart from Haasan, the others elected are DMK’s Salma (A Rokkaiah Malik), a writer; SR Sivalingam; P Wilson, who enters his second term; and AIADMK’s IS Inbadurai and Dhanapal.
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Tamil Nadu has a total of 18 seats in the Rajya Sabha. To gain a Rajya Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu’s 234-member Assembly, a candidate must receive at least 34 votes. With 158 MLAs from the DMK-led INDIA bloc (DMK-133, Congress-17, VCK-4, CPI-2, CPM-2), the alliance was well-positioned to win four seats.
(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)
