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Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh in the by-election to the Upper House, following the rejection of nomination papers of two other candidates.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president, Hemant Khandelwal received Hardeep Puris certificate of election from the Returning Officer, Umesh Kumar Sharma, at the state Legislative Assembly on Thursday. Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda, along with BJP MLAs Rameshwar Sharma and Bhagwandas Sabnani, were present on the occasion. Puri's nomination papers were accepted by the Returning Officer on November 3 after objections raised by Congress leaders and independent candidates were dismissed during scrutiny. With the nominations of the two other candidates, Rajkumar Lohani and Kante Sayanna, rejected, Puri remained the sole candidate in the fray. According to the order, Kante Sayannas nomination was rejected for failing to fulfil the mandatory requirement of signatures from 10 per cent of the elected members of the State Legislative Assembly or 10 elected members, whichever is fewer. Rajkumar Lohanis nomination was rejected for failing to submit the mandatory Form 26 affidavit by the 3 PM deadline on November 2, 2026. The deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended at 3 pm on November 5. Since no other candidate remained in the contest, Puri was elected unopposed to the Upper House. The seat had fallen vacant following the resignation of Union Minister of State L Murugan on October 14. His term in the Upper House was originally slated to conclude on April 2, 2030. Puri filed his nomination papers at the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly in Bhopal on October 31 in the presence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, Deputy Chief Ministers Rajendra Shukla and Jagdish Devda, BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal, state cabinet ministers and other party leaders. (ANI)
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