Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has achieved major political success on three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh. On Thursday, all three BJP candidates – Tarun Chugh, Rajneesh Aggarwal and Mahesh Kewat – were elected unopposed. Returning Officer Arvind Sharma formally announced their election by handing over election certificates to the three leaders in the Assembly premises.
**No voting required**
By the end of the last date for withdrawal of nominations at 3 pm on Thursday, only three candidates were left in the fray, equal to the number of vacant seats. As a result, the election process did not require voting and all three candidates were elected unopposed.
**Equations changed after Meenakshi’s nomination was canceled**
The entire situation regarding the elections for three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh changed when the nomination of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan was canceled during the scrutiny process. After this, the victory of all three BJP candidates was considered almost certain, which was formally confirmed after the completion of the process of withdrawal of nominations.
**Congress had fielded only one candidate**
It is noteworthy that for the three vacant Rajya Sabha seats from the state, BJP had fielded National General Secretary Tarun Chugh, former Madhya Pradesh BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Aggarwal and prominent Other Backward Class (OBC) leader Mahesh Kewat. At the same time, Congress had staked its claim on the third seat by fielding Meenakshi Natarajan. Given the current numerical strength in the assembly, the political equations were initially in favor of BJP for two seats and Congress for one seat; However, the situation completely changed after Meenakshi’s nomination was cancelled.
**No immediate relief from Supreme Court**
Meanwhile, the Congress challenged the decision to cancel the nomination of Meenakshi Natarajan first in the Election Commission of India and then in the Supreme Court. The Election Commission did not give any decision on this matter, but the party did not get any immediate relief from the Supreme Court either. The Supreme Court will hear this case tomorrow.
