Hardeep Singh Puri elected unopposed to RS from UP

Lucknow: Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was on Monday elected unopposed in a bypoll to a Rajya Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh, principal secretary of the state Assembly Pradeep Dubey said.

The seat fell vacant following the resignation of Manohar Parrikar, who quit as defence minister after becoming the Goa chief minister. His term was to end on November 25, 2020.

"Today was the last date of withdrawal of nominations and Puri was the lone candidate. He was elected unopposed," Dubey said.

A career diplomat-turned-politician, 65-year-old Puri was sworn in as a minister in September and was allocated the housing and urban development ministry. But since he was not a Member of Parliament, he had to enter either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha within the stipulated six months of taking oath.

His election was all but certain in view of the BJP's massive strength in the 403-member Uttar Pradesh Assembly.