THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Congress (Mani) leader and LDF candidate Jose K Mani was elected the Rajya Sabha member on Monday after he polled 97 votes. His opponent Sooranad Rajasekharan of the UDF got 40 votes. One LDF vote became invalid. It is the second tenure for Jose in the upper house of Parliament after switching from UDF to LDF.
Of the total 140 votes, 137 were polled. While CPM’s T P Ramakrishnan and P Mammikutty did not turn up as they are under treatment for Covid, Congress’ P T Thomas stayed away due to health reasons. UDF’s Mani C Kappan cast his vote wearing a PPE kit as he is recovering from Covid. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan and Speaker M B Rajesh cast their votes during the first hour of polling.