Unopposed BJP nominees Dineshchandra Anavadiya and Rambhai Mokariya were elected to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat on Monday, 22 February, as the Opposition INC did not nominate any candidates for the two vacancies, one of which was held by Congress’ veteran leader Ahmed Patel, PTI reported.
The vacancies were left after the demise of Patel in November last year and BJP’s Abhay Bharadwaj’s death due to the coronavirus in December.
Bharadwaj was a first time MP elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2019, while Patel held his seat since 1993.
Returning CB Pandya declared Anavadiya and Mokariya as winners of the two seats on Monday, which was the last date of withdrawal of forms, PTI reported.
With the bypoll for two seats scheduled to be held separately, the Congress, which has 65 MLAs in the 182-member Assembly, did not field any candidate due to the highly unlikely chance of winning against the 111 MLAs strong BJP, PTI reported.
Anavadiya, Banaskantha’s long time BJP leader, had also been the director of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation for three years after 2014, and Mokariya has been in the BJP for 40 years.
(With inputs from PTI)
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