The Congress received a major boost ahead of Rajya Sabha polls on June 17 with its candidate Narendra Budhaniya getting elected unopposed to the Upper House in a bypoll from Rajasthan.
Budhaniya was declared elected at the end of the deadline for the withdrawal of nomination papers at 3 pm, an Assembly spokesman said. The Opposition BJP did not field any candidate for the seat. The bypoll was necessitated following death of sitting BJP member Krishna Lal Valmiki early this year. Budhaniya's tenure in the Rajya Sabha will last till April 2012.
Meanwhile, for the biennial election to four Rajya Sabha seats in the state five candidates are left in the fray. Assembly Secretary and Electoral Officer HR Kudi said none of the candidates withdrew his name for the Rajya Sabha poll the voting for which will now take place on June 17.
The Congress has fielded Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and senior leader Ashq Ali Tak, while the BJP has fielded noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani and former MP VP Singh. However, former Union Minister Santosh Bagrodia, who jumped in the fray as an Independent after the Congress did not re-nominate him to accommodate Sharma, has upset the political equation of the BJP which is now finding it difficult to get its both nominees elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Source: The Tribune Cong bags RS seat in bypoll
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