CHENNAI: Congress candidate Praveen Chakravarty is set to be elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu with the backing of the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).
The scrutiny of nomination papers is scheduled to be undertaken by the Returning Officer on June 9, while candidates have been permitted to withdraw their nominations until June 11. In the absence of any other valid contender, Praveen Chakravarty is expected to be formally declared elected to the Upper House.
The Congress nominee enjoys the support of the 107 MLAs belonging to the ruling TVK and its supporting parties, ensuring a comfortable victory in the election for the lone Rajya Sabha seat.
Apart from Chakravarty, five independent candidates had filed nominations. However, election officials indicated that their papers are likely to be rejected during scrutiny as they do not possess the mandatory support of proposers from the Legislative Assembly. The by-election was necessitated following the resignation of C Ve Shanmugam of the AIADMK.