Gandhinagar, June 11 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates were elected unopposed to all four Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat on Thursday after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations expired with no additional contenders in the fray, filling the four Upper House seats falling vacant later this month.

Returning Officer and Gujarat Legislative Assembly Secretary Chetan Pandya formally declared Jitendra Kanzariya, Mansinh Parmar, Rajesh Shukla and Mukesh Rathwa elected to the Rajya Sabha after the biennial election process concluded without a contest.

The Election Commission of India had announced elections to the four Rajya Sabha seats in the state on June 1.

Nomination papers were accepted until June 8, with four candidates filing valid nominations. Scrutiny of the papers was completed on June 9, and all four nominations were found valid.

As no candidate withdrew and the number of candidates matched the number of vacancies, the election became uncontested under the provisions governing Rajya Sabha polls.

The newly elected members will replace outgoing Rajya Sabha MPs Ram Mokariya, Narhari Amin, Ramilaben Bara and Shaktisinh Gohil, whose terms are due to end on June 21.

With Gohil’s retirement, the Congress will no longer have representation from Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha.

The outcome had been widely anticipated given the BJP’s overwhelming strength in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly and the absence of opposition candidates in the election.

The four nominees had filed their papers earlier this week in Gandhinagar in the presence of senior party leaders.

Among the successful candidates, Jitendra Kanzariya is known for his organisational work within the BJP in Gujarat, while Mansinh Parmar has been associated with the party’s activities in tribal and rural regions of the state.

Rajesh Shukla has held organisational and political responsibilities within the BJP and has been active in public affairs in Gujarat. Mukesh Rathwa, who belongs to the tribal belt of eastern Gujarat, is expected to add to the party’s representation from Scheduled Tribe communities in Parliament.

The four members will join Gujarat’s representation in the Upper House for a six-year term, taking the state’s Rajya Sabha strength back to its full complement following the retirement of the outgoing members later this month.

–IANS

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