Three BJP nominees unanimously elected to Rajya Sabha

Those elected include Union minister Sarbanand Sonowal, minister of state for information and broadcasting L Murugan, and senior leader from Puducherry S Selvaganabathy.

New Delhi: Three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders -- including former Assam chief minister and Union minister Sarbanand Sonowal, minister of state for information and broadcasting L Murugan, and senior leader from Puducherry S Selvaganabathy -- were unanimously elected to the Rajya Sabha on Monday, taking the party’s tally in the Upper House from 94 to 97.

Union minister Sarbananada Sonowal receives a certificate for the Rajya Sabha seat in Guwahati on Monday. Three BJP nominees were unanimously elected to the Upper House. (PTI)

The BJP remains the single-largest party in the Rajya Sabha, whose strength at present stood at 231.

Expressing his gratitude towards people, Sonowal tweeted, “With the blessings of the people of Assam, I have been elected to the Rajya Sabha from Assam.”

He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah and party general secretary BL Santhosh for giving him the opportunity to serve the state and the nation.

Selvaganabathy, who was elected unopposed to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Puducheery, became the BJP’s first MP from the Union territory.

Murugan, a former president of the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit, was elected uncontested to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh on the last day of withdrawal of papers as the Opposition Congress didn’t field a candidate against him for the October 4 bypoll.

Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, BJP’s Sanjay Upadhyay had to withdraw his nomination as the party accepted the Congress’s request to allow an unopposed election for its candidate Rajni Patil.