BJP candidate Devendra Singh elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Chhattisgarh

The BJP leader is also a member of the Railway Hindi Advisory Committee, a party functionary said.Singh is the great grandson of the late Raja Chakradhar Singh, a patron of classical dance and music, he said.In the 90-member state Assembly, the ruling BJP has 54 MLAs while the Congress has 35. The Gondwana Gantantra Party has one member in the Assembly.The main opposition Congress did not field its candidate.

The ruling BJP's nominee Devendra Pratap Singh, who belongs to an erstwhile royal family and is active in the RSS, was on Tuesday elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Chhattisgarh, officials said.

There was only one vacant Rajya Sabha seat in the state and besides Singh, on other candidate had filed nomination papers.

The deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended this afternoon and the candidate for the lone vacancy has been elected unopposed to the Upper House of Parliament, state Assembly secretary Dinesh Sharma told PTI.

Accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao, minister Brijmohan Agrawal and party MLAs, Singh received his election certificate from Sharma.

Of the five Rajya Sabha members from Chhattisgarh, the term of senior BJP leader Saroj Pandey will come to an end soon. The other four Rajya Sabha members from the state are KTS Tulsi, Phulodevi Netam, Ranjeet Rajan and Rajiv Shukla (all of the Congress).

Singh is a scion of the erstwhile Gond tribal royal family and an active member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

He is an incumbent Zila Panchayat member from Lailunga in Raigarh district. The BJP leader is also a member of the Railway Hindi Advisory Committee, a party functionary said.

Singh is the great grandson of the late Raja Chakradhar Singh, a patron of classical dance and music, he said.

In the 90-member state Assembly, the ruling BJP has 54 MLAs while the Congress has 35. The Gondwana Gantantra Party has one member in the Assembly.

The main opposition Congress did not field its candidate.