BJP Wins All Four Gujarat Rajya Sabha Seats Unopposed
Congress Stays Out of Contest as BJP Candidates Secure Easy Entry to Upper House
- All four BJP candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Gujarat.
- Congress did not field any candidate for the biennial elections.
- Rajubhai Shukla, Mansinh Parmar, Mukeshbhai Rathwa and Jitendra Kanjariya declared elected.
- Four Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant as sitting members complete their terms on June 21.
GG News Bureau
Gandhinagar, 11th June: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday secured all four Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat unopposed after no other candidate remained in the fray following the withdrawal deadline.
The four winning candidates are Rajubhai Shukla, Mansinh Parmar, Mukeshbhai Rathwa and Jitendra Kanjariya. Returning Officer and Gujarat Legislative Assembly Secretary Chetan Pandya officially declared them elected after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations expired on June 11.
“As the time for withdrawal of nomination papers ended on June 11, there remained only four candidates contesting for four seats. Returning Officer Chetan Pandya declared all these four candidates as elected unopposed,” the Gujarat Vidhan Sabha Secretariat said in a statement.
The biennial elections were necessitated as the six-year terms of four sitting Rajya Sabha members from Gujarat are ending on June 21. The outgoing members include BJP MPs Rambhai Mokariya, Narhari Amin and Ramilaben Bara, along with Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil.
The Congress, which currently has only one Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat in the form of Shaktisinh Gohil, chose not to field a candidate. No independent or other party nominee entered the contest, ensuring an uncontested victory for the BJP nominees.
Rajubhai Shukla, 62, currently heads the BJP’s Surendranagar district unit and has previously served as president of the Kadi municipality and general secretary of the party’s Mehsana district unit.
Mukeshbhai Rathwa, 39, is a prominent tribal leader from Chhotaudepur district and presently serves as general secretary of the BJP’s district unit. He earlier held the position of vice-president of the BJP Yuva Morcha.
Mansinh Parmar, 45, hails from Gir Somnath district and is the president of the BJP OBC Morcha’s Gujarat unit.
Jitendra Kanjariya, 39, another prominent OBC leader from Devbhumi Dwarka district, has previously served on a district panchayat executive committee and is considered an emerging face in the party’s organisational structure.
With the unopposed election of all four candidates, the BJP has further consolidated its representation from Gujarat in the Upper House of Parliament.
