RS polls: Scrutiny over, 25 likely to be elected unopposed

Nominations of most candidates for Rajya Sabha biennial polls were found valid after scrutiny today, paving the way for election of Union minister Sharad Pawar, Murli Deora (Congress), RPI's Ramdas Athawale and Vijay Goel (BJP) along with 21 others to the Upper House unopposed.
Scrutiny of nominations for 55 Rajya Sabha seats in 16 states ended this evening and papers of all notable candidates were found in order, Returning Officers said.
The victory of at least 25 aspirants is a near-certainty with theirs being the only serious nominations against as many vacancies.
Those who are likely to be elected unopposed are Pawar and Majid Memon (both NCP), Deora and Hussain Dalwai (Cong) and Rajkumar Dhoot (Shiv Sena), all from Maharashtra, and sitting MP Parimal Nathwani, an independent, from Jharkhand.

The nominations of six AIADMK, DMK and CPI-M aspirants from Tamil Nadu have been accepted and they are likely to be elected uncontested.
The six are L Sasikala Pushpa, Vijila Satyanand, S Muthukaruppan and A K Selvaraj (all AIADMK), Tiruchi N Siva of DMK and CPI-M's T K Rangarajan.

Two nominations were rejected in the state, Returning Officer A M P Jamaludeen said in Chennai.
No other parties, including main opposition DMDK, fielded any candidate for the biennial polls.
In Rajasthan, BJP's Goel, Ram Narain Dudi and Narain Pachariya are likely to be elected unopposed from the state on January 31, the last date of withdrawal of nominations, after their papers were found in order.