BENGALURU: Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and ruling BJP's grassroot cadres Ashok Gasti and Iranna Kadadi have been declared elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed, a poll official said on Friday.
"Gowda, Kharge, Gasti and Kadadi have been duly elected to fill the seats in the Upper House in place of Kupendra Reddy of JD-S, B.K. Hariprasad and Rajeev Gowda of the Congress, and Prabhakar Kore of the BJP, who are retiring on June 25 on the expiration of their term of office," returning officer M.K. Vishalakshi said in a statement here.
Though the biennial elections were scheduled on June 19 in the event of a contest, the returning officer declared the results after the end of the last date of withdrawal of nomination, which was Friday, as there were no other candidates.
Former Prime Minister Deve Gowda, 87, got elected to the Upper House with the support of the opposition Congress as his regional party has only 34 legislators, 10 short of the required 44 votes.