Bhopal: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh on Thursday, after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended at 3 pm and he remained the sole candidate in the by-election, IANS reported.

Source: IANS via HiIndia

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Hemant Khandelwal received Puri's certificate of election from Returning Officer Umesh Kumar Sharma at the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Bhopal on Thursday. Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda and BJP MLAs Rameshwar Sharma and Bhagwandas Sabnani were present on the occasion, ANI reported.

Source: ANI via DevDiscourse

The result completes the process Awaaz Punjab has followed since the BJP announced Puri's candidature on October 28. He filed his nomination papers at the state Assembly on October 31 in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, Deputy Chief Ministers Rajendra Shukla and Jagdish Devda, Khandelwal and other party leaders. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav congratulated Puri on his election to the Upper House.

Why there was no contest

Puri's nomination was accepted by the Returning Officer on November 3 after objections raised by Congress leaders and the independent candidates were dismissed during scrutiny. The nominations of the two independent candidates were rejected: Rajkumar Lohani's papers were rejected for failing to submit the mandatory Form 26 affidavit by the 3 pm deadline on November 2, while Kante Sayanna's nomination did not fulfil the requirement of signatures from 10 per cent of the elected members of the state Assembly or 10 elected members, whichever is fewer.

The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of Union Minister of State L. Murugan on October 14, after he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Tamil Nadu. Murugan's Rajya Sabha term was scheduled to end on April 2, 2030, and Puri will now serve the remaining portion of that term in the Upper House.

With the certificate handed over on Thursday, Puri's return to the Rajya Sabha is formal. He continues to hold the Petroleum and Natural Gas portfolio in the Union government.