Six from TN elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha

Six candidates belonging to the ruling AIADMK, DMK, PMK and MDMK were elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed, said K. Srinivasan, the Returning Officer and Secretary of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Secretariat.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, Srinivasan said N. Chandrasegharan, Muhammath John (both from AIADMK), M. Shanmugam, P. Wilson (both from DMK), Anbumani Ramadoss (PMK) and Vaiko (MDMK) have been duly elected to fill the vacancies of six members of Council of States retiring on July 24, 2019.

The AIADMK has 123 MLAs in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, while the DMK has a strength of 101. DMK ally Congress has seven MLAs, there is one Independent member, while two seats are vacant.

The elections were held to fill up the vacancies created by the retirement of five Rajya Sabha members -- T. Rathinavel, V. Maitreyan, K.B. Arjunan, R. Lakshmanan (all AIADMK) and D. Raja (CPI) -- and the resignation of DMK's Kanimozhi following her victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. IANS