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The biennial Rajya Sabha polls have concluded on Monday with the election of 37 members from 10 states. There were considerable changes to the Upper House of Parliament on Monday. While most of the candidates were elected unanimously, there were considerable gains for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the election to the 11 Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar, Odisha, and Haryana.

 

The major focus of the day was the election of the longest-serving Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar. The move of the Chief Minister into the Rajya Sabha was ensured by the ruling coalition with the help of cross-voting and the absence of opposition members. Similar trends were observed in the election in Odisha. The NDA gained considerably by the rift among the opposition members.

 

The election marked an important milestone for the Parliament of India. In West Bengal, senior Supreme Court lawyer Menaka Guruswamy was elected unopposed as a Trinamool Congress nominee, becoming the country’s first openly queer Member of Parliament. She was joined by fellow TMC nominees including former police chief Rajeev Kumar, Babul Supriyo, and actress Koel Mallick, while the BJP’s Rahul Sinha also secured his seat without a contest.

 

Elsewhere, the process was largely a formality. In Maharashtra, the seven available seats were filled without a vote, seeing the return of NCP (SP) veteran Sharad Pawar alongside six candidates from the ruling Mahayuti alliance. Telangana saw the unopposed election of Congress nominees Abhishek Singhvi and Vem Narender Reddy, while in Tamil Nadu, a diverse group including the AIADMK’s M Thambidurai, the PMK’s Anbumani Ramadoss, and the DMK’s Tiruchi Siva all secured their places.

 

In the north, the Congress found a measure of stability in Himachal Pradesh, where Anurag Sharma, a trusted lieutenant of Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, emerged victorious. With these results now finalised, the focus shifts to the evolving legislative agenda in Delhi, where a bolstered NDA and a history-making group of new members are set to take their seats.

 

Also read: NDA plays ‘strategically’ to win Bihar RS vote