CHENNAI: Congress leader Praveen Chakravarty is set to be elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu on Thursday after the completion of the nomination withdrawal process.
The scrutiny of nomination papers was undertaken by the Returning Officer on Tuesday. According to a statement issued by the Tamil Nadu Assembly Secretariat, which is conducting the by-election, the nominations of 12 independent candidates were rejected for failing to furnish the required number of valid proposers.
The nomination filed by Praveen Chakravarty, the lone candidate in the fray representing the Congress, was accepted during scrutiny. Nominations of all the independent candidates were rejected.
Officials said the deadline for withdrawal of nominations is 3 pm on Thursday. If no other valid candidate remains in the contest after the withdrawal period, Chakravarty will be formally declared elected and issued the certificate of election.
The Congress nominee enjoys the support of 107 MLAs from the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and its supporting parties, ensuring a comfortable path to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from the State.
The by-election was necessitated following the resignation of AIADMK leader CVe Shanmugam from the Rajya Sabha after he secured victory in the Assembly election and entered the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.