7 ministers win Rajya Sabha elections unopposed; poll on March 23

NEW DELHI: Seven Union ministers, including Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar, were declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, while the stage is set for the March 23 contest in six states, including UP from where finance minister Arun Jaitley is in the fray. Prasad and Javadekar were elected from their homes states Bihar and Maharashtra, while petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and social justice minister TC Gehlot made it to the Rajya Sabha from MP. Health minister JP Nadda got elected from Himachal.

Union ministers Parshottam Rupala and Mansukh Mandavia also got elected from Gujarat without a contest. Naran Rathwa and Amee Yajnik (both Congress) were also declared elected unopposed from Gujarat. Others who got elected from Bihar are — BN Singh and Mahendra Prasad (both JDU), Manoj Jha and Ashfaq Karim of RJD and AP Singh (Congress). Congress will have a member in RS from Bihar after over a decade.