CHENNAI: Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president Kamal Haasan and three candidates fielded by the ruling DMK, and two candidates nominated by the opposition AIADMK were on Thursday declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu. Returning Officer B Subramaniyam handed over the certificates of election to the six candidates on Thursday evening, as the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended.
In all, 13 nominations were filed for the six vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Tamil Nadu. After scrutiny, the nominations of seven independent candidates were rejected for failing to meet the required criteria.
The valid nominations accepted were those of Kamal Haasan, DMK candidates P Wilson, Rajathi, alias Salma, and S R Sivalingam, as well as AIADMK nominees I S Inbadurai and M Dhanapal. With the number of valid nominations matching the number of vacancies, the six candidates were declared elected unopposed, eliminating the need for a poll.
After receiving the certificates, Wilson, Salma and Sivalingam visited CN Annadurai and M Karunanidhi’s mausoleum and paid tributes. Similarly, the AIADMK MPs paid floral tributes to MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa at their party headquarters.