The biennial Rajya Sabha elections to fill 37 seats across 10 states were held on Monday, with 11 seats actually going to polls and the rest getting declared uncontested.
While 26 candidates in the fray won uncontested, the remaining 11 seats, including five in Bihar, four in Odisha, and two in Haryana were up for grabs.
Bihar’s longest-serving chief minister Nitish Kumar, who had earlier announced his move to the Rajya Sabha to everyone’s surprise, was among the prominent candidates in this year’s polls.
Nitish Kumar was among the winners as the NDA swept Bihar, winning all five seats.
In Odisha, two seats went to the BJP, while one was won by the BJD and another by an independent candidate.
Meanwhile, in Haryana, spoils were split, with the BJP and the Congress winning one each.
Check the full list of winners below.
Uncontested winners
As many as 26 candidates were elected unopposed to the Upper House of Parliament in the biennial Rajya Sabha elections this year, with many prominent names in the list.
In poll-bound West Bengal, four TMC nominees won their seats uncontested, while the BJP won the fifth. TMC’s winners were Babul Supriyo, former state director general of police Rajeev Kumar, senior Supreme Court lawyer Menaka Guruswamy and actor Koel Mallick. Former BJP state president Rahul Sinha was also elected unopposed. Notably, with the victory, Guruswamy became India’s first openly queer Member of Parliament.
In poll-bound Tamil Nadu as well, all six candidates also won uncontested. AIADMK sitting MP M Thambidurai and PMK leader Anbumani Ramadoss were elected along two candidates from the ruling DMK — Tiruchi Siva and J Constantine Ravindran. Congress candidate M Christopher Tilak and DMDK treasurer LK Sudeesh were also elected unopposed.
Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, all seven nominees won unopposed. These included six candidates from the ruling Mahayuti alliance as well as NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar.
In Telangana, Congress nominees Abhishek Singhvi and Vem Narender Reddy were elected unopposed, while in Himachal Pradesh, Congress candidate Anurag Sharma, a close aide of chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, secured victory.
In Assam, the BJP nominees Jogen Mohan and Terash Gowalla, and UPPL Pramod Boro secured victory uncontested.
Meanwhile, in Chhattisgarh, Congress nominee Phulo Devi Netam and BJP candidate Laxmi Verma won uncontested.
