Rajya Sabha Election: DMK announces candidates for 3 seats; leaves 1 for ally Congress

After the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced poll dates for the highly-anticipated Rajya Sabha elections, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), on Sunday, announced its candidates from Tamil Nadu. As part of it, four seats lie with the DMK while two other seats remain with the opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). On Thursday, the ECI announced dates for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections to 57 seats across 15 states, including Tamil Nadu. 

Out of the four candidates in Tamil Nadu, three seats have been reserved for DMK candidates leaving partner Congress with a single seat. 

As informed by the party through an official statement on Sunday, May 15, out of the four candidates, the three DMK candidates are Thanjai C Kalyana Sundaram, KRN Rajesh Kumar, and R Girirajan. The Congress candidate is yet to be announced. Notably, the tenures of six leaders from Tamil Nadu will be coming to an end leading to six vacant seats. 

The six retiring Rajya Sabha MPs of the state are TKS Elangovan, RS Bharathi, and KRN Rajeshkumar of DMK, and A Navaneetha Krishnan, SR Balasubramoniyan, and A Vijayakumar of AIADMK. Their tenures will end on June 29. 

Election Commission announces Rajya Sabha election dates

The Election Commission of India on Thursday announced that the biennial elections for the 57 Rajya Sabha seats will be held on June 10. The elections were necessitated in view of the retirement of 57 members from 15 states between June and August. These seats are spread across 15 states and Union territories (UTs), including Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu, among others.

As per the press statement issued by the ECI, the notification for the biennial election would be issued and further nominations would begin on May 24. 

Check important dates: 

• Issue of Notification- May 24, 2022, Tuesday
• Last Date of nominations- May 31, 2022, Tuesday
• Scrutiny of nominations- June 1, 2022, Wednesday
• Last date of withdrawal of candidatures- June 3, 2022, Friday
• Date of Poll- June 10, 2022, Friday
• Hours of Poll- 09:00 AM- 4.00 PM
• Vote Counting: June 10, 2022, Friday at 05:00 PM 

(Image: PTI)