Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], June 11 (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday congratulated Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Pawan Khera and Mansoor Ali Khan on being elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed.
All four candidates, three from Congress and BJP M Nagaraja were declared elected unopposed in the biennial elections to four seats from Karnataka after the nomination of the independent candidate was rejected.
In a post on X, DK Shivakumar congratulated the Congress leaders, expressing confidence that the elected leaders will champion Karnataka’s interests in Parliament
“Heartiest Congratulations to Mallikarjun Kharge, Shri Pawan Khera, and Shri Mansoor Ali Khan on being elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka,” he said.
“I am confident that they will champion Karnataka’s interests in Parliament, effectively voicing the aspirations of our people and working towards the state’s continued progress and development,” he added.
The elections were announced as the terms of four Rajya Sabha members–BJP’s Iranna Kadadi and Narayana Koragappa, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda of the JD(S)–set to expire on June 25.
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Election Commission (ECI) over the rejection of Congress Candidate Meenakshi Natarajan’s Rajya Sabha nomination papers from Madhya Pradesh.
Rahul Gandhi said that the “BJP-EC Jugalbandi” has finished the Rajya Sabha biennial elections before it even started due to alleged ‘seat chori’.
“After Vote Chori and Sarkar Chori, the BJP-EC jugalbandi has finished the contest before it has even begun with Seat Chori. Look at what happened in the recent Rajya Sabha elections. Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan ji submitted every document. No pending cases. The EC cancelled her nomination on a frivolous BJP objection,” he said.
Gandhi underlined that Parimal Nathwani, the BJP-backed independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha elections from Jharkhand, skipped mandatory details while writing his own name wrong in the form, and yet he was given time from the ECI to fix the mistakes.
“Parimal Nathwani, the BJP-backed independent, got his own name wrong on the form and skipped multiple mandatory disclosures. The EC gave him an extension to fix everything,” he said.
Congress’ Madhya Pradesh candidate for Rajya Sabha biennial elections, Meenakshi Natrajan, was cancelled after a complaint filed by the BJP alleging a discrepancy in her nomination papers.
With Natarajan’s nomination cancelled, all three BJP candidates from Madhya Pradesh–Tarun Chugh, Rajneesh Agarwal and Mahesh Kewat–are set to enter the Rajya Sabha unopposed. (ANI)