Manmohan Singh elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan

JAIPUR: Former PM Manmohan Singh was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan on Monday.
The BJP did not field a candidate, as it did not have the requisite numbers in the assembly. Thus, Singh was declared elected unopposed as the deadline for withdrawal of nominations for the byelection to the Rajya Sabha ended at 3pm on Monday. Singh garnered support from the Congress party, the BSP, the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP), and independent MLAs, taking their strength to over 120 MLAs out of the current assembly strength of 198.The government’s chief whip, Mahesh Joshi, received the election certificate on behalf of Singh from the returning officer and assembly secretary, PK Mathur, who declared Singh elected unopposed.
The seat became vacant after the death of Madan Lal Saini, BJP state president and Rajya Sabha member, in June. Rajasthan has 10 Rajya Sabha seats and currently nine are with the BJP.
Manmohan Singh was a Rajya Sabha member for five consecutive terms from Assam — 1991 to 2019. His tenure in the Rajya Sabha ended on June 14.
Ashok Gehlot, chief minister of the state, Sachin Pilot, deputy CM, and CP Joshi, speaker of the state assembly, congratulated Singh upon his election.