Union minister Puri, nine others elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh

As many as 10 leaders were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh on Monday, including Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Among those elected, eight belonged to the BJP, while one each are from the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party. The term of the newly elected members will be from November 25, 2020 to November 24, 2026.

Apart from Puri, those elected to the Rajya Sabha are BJP's Neeraj Shekhar, Arun Singh, Geeta Shakya, Haridwar Dubey, Brijlal, BL Varma and Seema Dwivedi.

Prof Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party was declared elected unopposed while the BSP`s Ramji Gautam was also elected to the Upper House.

Earlier, a political drama was witnessed for the tenth seat between BSP`s Ramji Gautam and an independent candidate Prakash Bajaj, backed by the SP. The matter was resolved when the nomination of Bajaj was canceled and the BSP candidate won despite having only ten votes of his party.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Naresh Bansal was declared elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Uttarakhand with no other party in the contest. Bansal was handed over the certificate of his election from the seat by Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha Secretary Mukesh Singhal.

There are 31 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, of which 22 are now held by the BJP, five by the Samajwadi Party, and three by the BSP. The Congress has only one member in the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh.

(With agency inputs)