S Jaishankar, Derek O’Brien among 11 to be elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’ Brien are among 11 leaders set to be elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha.
The ruling BJP will gain a seat, bolstering its count to 93 members in Rajya Sabha, where the government does not have a majority.
There will be no voting for six seats in West Bengal, three in Gujarat and one seat in Goa on July 24, as was scheduled, because there are no opposing candidates in these seats. Today was the last date for withdrawing nominations to contest the polls.
Six Trinamool Congress and five BJP candidates will be elected unopposed. The Trinamool has also won a bypoll on one Rajya Sabha seat in West Bengal.
S Jaishankar – who has won a second term in the upper house – Babubhai Desai and Kesaridev Singh Jhala are the BJP candidates elected from Gujarat, Anant Maharaj from West Bengal, and Sadanand Shet Tanavade from Goa.
Besides Derek O’Brien, the other Trinamool Congress leaders elected unopposed are Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Dola Sen, Saket Gokhale, Samirul Islam, and Prakash Barik.
The Congress is set to lose one seat and drop to 30 members in Rajya Sabha.
Seven seats in the 245-member Rajya Sabha will fall vacant after July 24 – four seats in Jammu and Kashmir, two nominated and one vacant seat in Uttar Pradesh.
The total seats in Rajya Sabha will come down to 238 and the majority mark will be 120. The BJP and its allies will have 105 members.
Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com
The BJP is also certain to win the support of five nominated and two independent MPs.
So, the number of members in favour of the government will be 112, which is eight short of the majority mark.