Union Minister and BJP candidate Hardeep Singh Puri has been elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha by-election from Madhya Pradesh. Apart from him, nomination papers of two other candidates were rejected on Tuesday, after which Hardeep Puri was left alone in the field. His selection was almost already decided. Many party leaders including BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal had reached Madhya Pradesh Assembly. After the announcement of Puri’s name, BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal has taken his certificate.
The last date for withdrawal of nominations was Thursday (05 November). In such a situation, the returning officer declared him elected unopposed. On Tuesday, the last day of scrutiny of nomination papers, the nomination papers of independent candidate Kante Sayanna and Congress-backed Rajkumar Lohani were rejected.
Objection was raised on Hardeep Puri’s nomination papers.
Hardeep Singh Puri had filed his nomination on Saturday 31 October. During this time many leaders including Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and BJP State President Hemant Khandelwal were present. Meanwhile, both independent candidates and Congress leader Hemant Katare objected to Puri’s nomination papers, claiming that the affidavit in Form-26 filed by him is invalid and incomplete.
Returning officer Umesh Sharma investigated the objections and said that Puri had not violated any provision of the Representation of the People Act. Sharma said in his order that no flaw was found in Puri’s nomination papers.
This is an attack on Indian democracy- Congress
Katare and Congress MLA Atif Akil had said that they would approach the court against this order. “This is an attack on Indian democracy,” he said in a statement. Despite such significant flaws, the nomination papers were not rejected.
l. The seat became vacant after Murugan’s resignation.
This Rajya Sabha seat became vacant after the resignation of Union Minister L Murugan. At present Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri is a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh. His tenure is going to end on November 25. Due to the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, the path to victory for the party candidate in the Rajya Sabha by-election was considered easy.
Let us tell you that before coming into politics, Hardeep Puri had a diplomatic career of about 39 years. He was working in the Foreign Service. He was an officer of the 1974 batch of the Indian Foreign Service. He has also served as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He retired from Foreign Service in February 2013 after 39 years of service. Hardeep Singh Puri took membership of Bharatiya Janata Party on 2 January 2014. After the formation of BJP government at the Center in 2014, he was included in the Modi cabinet.
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SK Sharma is a content writer who writes on news, entertainment, and lifestyle topics. She has over four years of experience and is known for conveying information in simple and clear language.
