Rajya Sabha Bypolls: Seven new members were elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament on September 27, 2021, on the last date for withdrawals. Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal was elected unopposed from Assam Rajya Sabha seat, which had fallen vacant after Biswajit Daimary resigned to become the assembly speaker.

The Election Commission of India had announced earlier this month that the bypolls for seven Rajya Sabha seats will be held on October 4, 2021. The bypolls were held for seven Rajya Sabha seats- one each in Assam, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Puducherry and two in Tamil Nadu.

New Rajya Sabha MPs: Here are all 7 newly elected Rajya Sabha members

1. Sarbananda Sonowal (BJP) - Assam 

2. L Murugan (BJP) - Madhya Pradesh

3. S Selvaganapathy (BJP) - Puducherry

4. Rajani Patil (INC)- Maharashtra

5. Sushmita Dev (TMC)- West Bengal 

6. Dr Kanimozhi NVN Somu (DMK)-Tamil Nadu 

7. KRN Rajeshkumar (DMK)-Tamil Nadu 

Congratulations to my Ministerial colleagues, Shri @sarbanandsonwal Ji and Shri @Murugan_MoS Ji on being elected to the Rajya Sabha from Assam and Madhya Pradesh respectively. I am confident that they will enrich Parliamentary proceedings and further our agenda of public good.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 28, 2021

Rajya Sabha bypolls: Key Details 

S Selvaganabathy becomes BJP's first MP from Puducherry

S Selvaganabathy became the first BJP MP from Puducherry after he was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on September 27, 2021.  The BJP leader was declared elected by Secretary of Legislative Assembly R Mounissamy as the opposition DMK and Congress did not field any candidate to challenge his nomination. The other four nominations filed by three independents and one registered party were rejected after they failed to meet the mandatory requirement of 10 proposers each. This was the first time that the BJP contested Rajya sabha elections from the union territory and won.

BJP nominee S Selvaganapathy has been elected unopposed to the lone seat in Rajya Sabha from Puducherry pic.twitter.com/FvG3VaSvd9

— ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2021

It is a matter of immense pride for every BJP Karyakarta that our Party has got it’s first ever Rajya Sabha MP from Puducherry in Shri S. Selvaganabathy Ji. The trust placed in us by the people of Puducherry is humbling. We will keep working for Puducherry’s progress.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 28, 2021

DMK candidates elected unopposed

The two DMK candidates from Tamil Nadu- Dr Kanimozhi NVN Somu and KRN Rajesh Kumar – were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha, after the nominations of three Independents – N Agni Sriramachandran, Dr K Padmarajan and S Pushparaj – were rejected during scrutiny phase. 

While Dr Kanimozhi NVN Somu is the daughter of former Union Minister NVN Somu and a renowned obstetrician, gynaecologist and laparoscopic surgeon, KRN Rajesh Kumar is a part of DMK Youth Wing and the district in-charge for DMK in Namakkal (East) district.

The Rajya Sabha bypolls were held for two Tamil Nadu seats to fill the vacancies caused by the resignations of AIADMK members K P Munusamy and R Vaithilingam following their election to the TN Legislative Assembly.

Earlier on September 9, DMK nominee M M Abdullah was declared elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha to fill the vacancy caused by the death of AIADMK MP Mohamedjan.

With two new DMK MPs elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha, this would take the party's strength in the upper house of the Parliament to 10, making it the fourth largest party in Rajya Sabha, after BJP (94 MPs), Congress (34) and TMC (12). 

Rajya Sabha bypolls in Maharashtra: BJP withdraws nomination, Congress wins unopposed 

In a rare instance, the BJP withdrew its candidate Sanjay Upadhyay from contesting in Rajya Sabha bypolls in Maharashtra, paving way for the Congress candidate to be elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed from the state. 

Congress's Rajni Patil was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha, after Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole and senior state minister Balasaheb Thorat met Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis to request the BJP to withdraw its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha bypolls.

The bypoll was necessitated after the death of sitting Congress MP Rajiv Satav in May due to post-COVID complications. The 63-year-old Rajni Patil is late MP's elder sister and she thanked the BJP for withdrawing its candidate. 

In Maharashtra it has been a long established tradition that if a sitting member dies, the seat will not be contested and will be filled unopposed by the party to which the late candidate belonged.