Jaishankar, O'Brien among 11 to be elected to Rajya Sabha
What's the story
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O'Brien are among 11 leaders set to be elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha.
The election is scheduled for next Monday. However, there will be no voting for six seats in West Bengal, three in Gujarat, and one in Goa.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—which has 93 members—has already gained a seat.
Details
Know about unopposed candidates from BJP, TMC
Six TMC and five BJP candidates will be elected unopposed in the absence of any opposing candidates.
Jaishankar, Babubhai Desai, and Kesaridev Singh Jhala are the BJP candidates elected from Gujarat; Anant Maharaj from West Bengal; and Sadanand Shet Tanavade from Goa.
The TMC leaders set to be elected unopposed are O'Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Dola Sen, Saket Gokhale, Samirul Islam, and Prakash Barik.
Facts
Some members renominated for Upper House elections
The Rajya Sabha tenure of O'Brien, Sekhar, and Dola is ending; therefore, the TMC opted to re-announce their candidacies.
Congress MP Pradip Bhattacharya's term in West Bengal is likewise coming to an end on August 18.
Jaishankar, Dinesh Jemalbhai Anavadiya, Lokhandwala Jugal Singh Mathurji, and Vinay D Tendulkar are the four BJP MPs from Gujarat and Goa whose terms are also concluding.
Dates
Jaishankar was vying for Gujarat's Gandhinagar seat
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), July 13 was the last date for filing nominations for the vacant Rajya Sabha seats. The election and counting of the votes were scheduled for July 24.
Jaishankar filed his nomination from Gujarat's Gandhinagar days after the ECI's announcement on June 27 about the schedule for the election on 10 seats in three states.
History
A little about Jaishankar's last win
Jaishankar was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat in 2019 and took oath as a member of the Upper House.
He had bagged 104 votes, while his Congress rival Gaurav Pandya got 70 votes.
The two seats from Gujarat fell vacant after Union Ministers Amit Shah and Smriti Irani were elected to the Lok Sabha in recent national polls.