Union Minister of State for Tourism and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader K.J. Alphons Kannathanam was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan in the by-election for a vacant seat here on Thursday.
The seat fell vacant after M. Venkaiah Naidu, elected as India’s Vice-President, resigned on August 10. Mr. Alphons was the only candidate to file his nomination papers, as the Opposition Congress did not field its candidate.
State Assembly Secretary Prithvi Raj, who was also the Returning Officer for the Rajya Sabha bypoll, declared Mr. Alphons elected to the seat on the last day of withdrawal of nominations. Mr. Raj said while giving the certificate of election to Mr. Alphons that he was the only candidate in the fray.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Arun Chaturvedi and State BJP president Ashok Parnami were among those present.
Mr. Alphons’ nomination was opposed by rebel BJP MLA Ghanshyam Tiwari, who alleged that the rights of the State’s party workers had been compromised by bringing in a leader from “outside”.
Mr. Alphons, who hails from Kerala, quit the Civil Services in 2006 to join politics. He said he would work for the promotion of the tourism, heritage and wildlife sectors in Rajasthan, in which there were “immense opportunities”.
Of the ten Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan, eight are now with the BJP and two with the Congress. The term of Congress members Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Narendra Budania will expire early next year.