Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha after rival nominations rejected

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. Today, after the deadline for withdrawing nominations ended, Returning Officer Umesh Kumar Sharma officially announced his election. The certificate was then handed over to BJP State President Hemant Khandelwal. Congress had raised objections, claiming several errors in Puri’s nomination papers, but the Returning Officer rejected all the objections.
 
Meanwhile, the nomination of Congress-backed independent candidate Rajkumar Lohani was rejected because he did not submit the required Form 26 affidavit. Another independent candidate, Kante Sayanna, also had his nomination rejected due to incomplete information. After this, Puri was the only candidate left with a valid nomination.
 
The Rajya Sabha seat in Madhya Pradesh had become vacant after Union Minister L. Murugan resigned. The BJP announced Hardeep Singh Puri as its candidate on October 28. He filed his nomination on October 31 in the presence of Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav and BJP State President Hemant Khandelwal.