Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi during a meeting at AICC headquarters, Indira Bhawan, in New Delhi. Photo: X|(@kharge via PTI
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, three others elected to RS from Karnataka
Congress secures three seats, including re-election for party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, while the BJP picks up one seat following the final day for withdrawals
Bengaluru, Jun 8 (PTI) Three Congress candidates, including AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, and one BJP nominee were declared elected "unanimously" to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka on Thursday, election officials said.
Elections were announced to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from the state because the terms of current members -- Iranna Kadadi and Narayana Koragappa (both from the BJP), Mallikarjun Kharge of the Congress, and former PM H D Deve Gowda from JD(S)—end on June 25.
Kharge sought re-election to Parliament's upper house from Karnataka.
Alongside Kharge, the other newly elected members are AICC Secretary Mansoor Ali Khan, Congress's Media and Publicity Department chairperson Pawan Khera, and BJP's M Nagaraja.
Initially, five candidates had filed nominations by Monday, the last day to do so, for the election to four Rajya Sabha seats from the state, which was scheduled for June 18.
Members of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly were scheduled to vote in this election at Vidhana Soudha.
However, officials said that during scrutiny, the nomination filed by an independent candidate was rejected.
The last date for withdrawing candidature was Thursday. Since only four candidates remained in the fray, they were declared elected "unanimously", officials added. PTI