Chennai, March 9 – Six candidates from major political parties in Tamil Nadu were unopposed elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament, on Monday. This was because the number of candidates matched the number of seats available.
The elected candidates include DMK leaders Tiruchi Siva and J. Constandine Ravindran, AIADMK's M. Thambi Durai, PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss, Congress nominee Christopher Manickam, and DMDK leader L.K. Sudhish.
Returning Officer R. Santhi formally announced their election and handed over the election certificates to the candidates.
This declaration came after the completion of the nomination and scrutiny process, during which it became clear that there would be no contest. According to the Election Commission's procedure, candidates can be declared unopposed if the number of valid nominations equals the number of seats available.
Santhi stated that the candidates were elected under Section 53(2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and Rule 11(1) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, which allow for such declarations without a poll.
A total of 18 individuals had initially filed nominations for the six seats. However, one candidate withdrew the nomination before the deadline, while the nominations of seven others were rejected during the scrutiny process, leaving only six valid candidates in the fray.
Among those elected, Tiruchi Siva of the DMK and AIADMK veteran M. Thambi Durai are returning to the Rajya Sabha after completing their previous terms. PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss has also secured another term in the Upper House.
Meanwhile, Congress candidate Christopher Manickam and DMDK's L.K. Sudhish will be entering the Rajya Sabha for the first time.
The six Rajya Sabha seats from Tamil Nadu will become vacant on April 2, following the completion of the terms of sitting members N. R. Elango, P. Selvarasu, M. Thambi Durai, Tiruchi Siva, and Kanimozhi N.V.N. Somu.
Based on its numerical strength in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, the ruling DMK fielded two candidates and allocated one seat each to its alliance partners Congress and DMDK. The AIADMK fielded one candidate and supported the PMK for another seat.
With these elections, Tamil Nadu continues to maintain its full strength of 18 members in the Rajya Sabha, representing various political parties from the state.