Bhopal: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had nominated him for the by-election to a seat that fell vacant after the resignation of Union Minister of State L. Murugan.
The result was formally declared on Thursday, November 5, after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended. Returning Officer Umesh Sharma issued the election certificate, which was collected on Puri’s behalf by BJP state president and MLA Hemant Khandelwal.
Two independent candidates had also filed nomination papers. The nomination of Congress-backed candidate Rajkumar Lohani was rejected because he did not submit the required affidavit. The nomination of Kante Sayanna was rejected for not meeting the proposer requirements. With both nominations rejected, Puri was the only candidate remaining in the contest.
Puri is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh, where his tenure was due to end on November 25, 2026. The BJP chose to field him from Madhya Pradesh for the vacant seat. His new term is scheduled to continue until April 2030.
Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda, MLA Rameshwar Sharma and other BJP leaders were present when Khandelwal received the election certificate.
