Chennai, June 8 (IANS) Congress candidate Praveen Chakravarty is set to be elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu, marking another significant milestone in the party’s political realignment in the state following the recent Assembly elections.

The Election Commission had announced that a by-election to the vacant Rajya Sabha seat from Tamil Nadu would be held on June 18. The nomination process commenced on June 1 and concluded on Monday, with a total of 14 candidates filing nomination papers, including Chakravarty.

While the Congress nominee was backed by the ruling alliance, the remaining 13 aspirants entered the fray as independent candidates. However, election officials indicated that the nominations of the independents are unlikely to survive scrutiny, as none of them was proposed by any member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, a mandatory requirement for Rajya Sabha elections.

The scrutiny of nominations is scheduled to take place on Tuesday. Following the completion of scrutiny and the expiry of the deadline for withdrawal of nominations on June 11, Chakravarty is expected to be formally declared elected unopposed.

The development carries considerable political significance as it further strengthens the Congress party’s position in Tamil Nadu after its dramatic post-election shift in alliances. Following the Assembly elections, the Congress ended its decades-long association with the DMK and aligned itself with Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led government. As part of the new political arrangement, the Congress secured two ministerial berths in the Vijay Cabinet, marking the party’s return to the state government after several decades.

Senior Congress leaders S. Rajesh Kumar and P. Viswanathan were inducted into the Cabinet, giving the party a direct role in the administration.

The Rajya Sabha seat itself became available after TVK, despite being entitled to nominate a candidate, decided to support the Congress as part of efforts to consolidate the alliance between the two parties.

The move was widely seen as a gesture by Vijay to deepen cooperation with the national party following the formation of the coalition government.

With Chakravarty’s imminent election, the Congress will now not only have representation in the Tamil Nadu government through two Cabinet ministers but will also secure a voice in Parliament’s Upper House, further enhancing its influence within the ruling alliance in the state.

–IANS

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