Chennai: Four candidates belonging to the ruling AIADMK and two from DMK would be elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu if their nomination papers are found to be in the prescribed format.
As the last date for filing of nomination ended on Tuesday evening, four from AIADMK, two from DMK and six independent candidates have evinced interest in contesting the election. Since independent candidates may not have the required number of nominations from MLAs, their papers would be rejected when scrutiny takes place on Wednesday.
If their papers are rejected, there will only be six candidates in fray to fill six vacancies to the Upper House from Tamil Nadu. The six will be elected unopposed.
With the election of six members, AIADMK’s strength in Rajya Sabha will go up from 12 to 13, while DMK will have five members as against three MPs now.
Since Friday is the last day for withdrawal of nominations, the Election Commission will announce on Friday that all six candidates have been elected unopposed.
Six members — three from AIADMK, two from DMK and one from Congress — will retire on June 29. The candidates who would be elected unopposed are S.R. Balasubramanian, R. Vaithilingam, A. Navaneethakrishnan and A. Vijayakumar of AIADMK and T.K.S. Elangovan and R.S. Bharati from DMK.
The members who are retiring on June 29 are AIADMK floor leader in Rajya Sabha Navaneethakrishnan, Manoj Paul Pandian and Rabi Bernard, and K.P. Ramalingam and S. Thangavelu of DMK and Congress’s E.M. Sudharsana Natchiappan.
The AIADMK is set to get an enhanced presence in Rajya Sabha by sending four members as against three members of the party retiring from the Upper House.
Though the AIADMK’s strength would increase by only one seat, the ruling BJP at the Centre is happy with the fact that the Dravidian party will have 13 MPs from next month which would help it in getting crucial bills passed.
The AIADMK has been supporting the BJP, which is struggling to cobble up a majority in the Upper House that is dominated by Congress. The BJP top brass — from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu – share an excellent rapport with Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
