Kolkata(PTI): All seven candidates - six of the Trinamool Congress including Derek O'Brien and Saket Gokhale and one from the BJP - were elected unopposed to the Upper House of Parliament on Monday, West Bengal Assembly officials said.

Six Rajya Sabha seats of the state are scheduled to go to the polls on July 24, the tenures of which are going to end in August. A by-election was also supposed to be held in another RS seat.

"After the scrutiny of nomination papers, the assembly secretary today announced that all six candidates of the TMC and one of the BJP have been elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed," an assembly official said.

Among those of TMC who got elected to Rajya Sabha were Derek O'Brien, Sukhendu Sekhar Ray and Dola Sen. O'Brien, an MP since 2011, is the TMC's leader in Rajya Sabha, while Ray, who was first sent to the Upper House of Parliament in 2012 is the deputy chief whip. Sen, a senior leader and trade unionist, became an MP in 2017.

The newcomers on the list were Bangla Sanskriti Mancha president Samirul Islam, the TMC's Alipurduar district president Prakash Chik Baraik, and RTI activist and TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale.

Gokhale was elected in the by-poll to a Rajya Sabha seat that became vacant following the resignation of former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro as a TMC MP in April.

Ananta Rai 'Maharaj' became the BJP's first elected member of the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal. He has earlier been demanding a separate state of 'Greater Cooch Behar' to be carved out of the northern part of the state.

The TMC has 216 MLAs in the 294-member assembly and enjoys the support of five BJP legislators, who switched over to the ruling party but are yet to resign from the House. The saffron party has 70 lawmakers in the assembly.

According to the number, out of the six seats whose tenure is going to expire, the TMC was supposed to get five, and the BJP one. Gokhale got elected in the by-poll.

"The most important matter in Parliament is debate. We aim to ensure that there is a proper debate on all the bills and not just bills being passed through a voice vote," Gokhale said.

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Bengaluru: Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka launched a scathing attack on MLC Dr. Yathindra, demanding that he retract his controversial statement comparing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to the late Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. Ashoka urged Yathindra to apologize to the people of Karnataka if he had even a shred of conscience and any respect for the Mysuru royal lineage.

In a strongly worded social media post on Sunday, Ashoka stated, “Comparing Siddaramaiah to Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar is nothing short of absurd. Where is Nalwadi, who was bestowed the title of ‘Rajarshi’ by Mahatma Gandhi himself, and where is Siddaramaiah, who has stooped to being a puppet in the hands of fake Gandhis for the sake of power?”

He continued his critique by contrasting the enduring legacy of Nalwadi, remembered fondly by Kannadigas for his people-centric development, with what he termed as Siddaramaiah’s failure to manage Karnataka’s economy, burdening every household with debt.

Ashoka highlighted several stark differences, while Nalwadi built Mysore University over a century ago, Siddaramaiah is shutting down nine universities due to lack of funds. Nalwadi famously sold his family’s gold to build the KRS dam, whereas Siddaramaiah is accused of grabbing 14 sites meant for the public. Nalwadi established Bhadravati Iron & Steel Plant, Sandalwood Soap Factory, and Mysore Paper Mills. In contrast, Ashoka claimed Siddaramaiah's governance drove away industries, investors, and entrepreneurs. Nalwadi pioneered reservations for the backward classes long before it became mainstream. Siddaramaiah, Ashoka alleged, is reducing social justice to a gimmick by sticking labels on doors in the name of surveys.

While acknowledging Yathindra’s emotional attachment to his father, Ashoka emphasized that comparing Siddaramaiah to a visionary like Nalwadi was “laughable, baseless, and a gross insult” to the late king.

In his concluding remarks, Ashoka slammed the government for ignoring farmers’ needs despite an early monsoon. He accused the administration of being caught up in internal power struggles and negligence, forcing farmers into despair. “This government will not be spared from the curse of the farmers,” he warned.

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