M V Shreyams Kumar elected to Rajya Sabha

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: LDF candidate M V Shreyams Kumar of Lokantrik Janata Dal (LJD) was elected as the member of Rajya Sabha from the state on Monday in the vacancy created by the demise of LJD leader M P Veerendra Kumar.
Shreyams defeated UDF candidate Lal Varghese Kalpakavadi with 88 votes against 41 votes.
Of the total 136 votes available, 130 were polled, while six members did not vote. Those who did not vote are former chief minister V S Achuthanandan, C F Thomas, George M Thomas, O Rajagopal, Roshy M Augustine and N Jayaraj. While the first three absentees kept off due to health reasons, the lone BJP member Rajagopal and Kerala Congress (M) representatives Roshy Augustine and N Jayaraj did not vote for political reasons.
One vote, that of P C George, was declared invalid. In the election that began at 9am in the parliamentary study hall, K Dasan of the LDF was the first to vote.
The elections were conducted by adhering to Covid-19 protocols. Veerendra Kumar, who had contested and won the Rajya Sabha backed by LDF, had passed away on May 29. He had a term in Rajya Sabha till April 2, 2022.
Karat Razak of the LDF and K M Shaji of the UDF could not vote as their appeals against the Kerala high court order, declaring their elections void, are pending before Supreme Court.
Higher education minister K T Jaleel, who is in quarantine, cast his franchise, but did not participate in the assembly proceedings.
In the 140-member Assembly, the LDF has 93 members, while the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has 45. Besides, one member is nominated from the Anglo Indian community, but he does not have voting rights.