FOUR VACANCIES IN UPPER HOUSE AFTER ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS

NEW DELHI: Four vacancies have come up in the Rajya Sabha after the latest round of assembly elections, with the members of the Upper House getting elected in assemblies of the states. Some members will also serve as ministers in their respective states.

Trinamool Congress MP Dr Manas Bhuyan, who got elected to the Rajya Sabha on 2017, contested the assembly polls and is now the water resources investigation and development minister of the state.

R Vaithilingam of the AIADMK, who was set to retire in 2022 from the Upper House, resigned from Parliament after he won from the Orathanadu constituency. He will be in the Opposition bench of the Tamil Nadu assembly.

His party colleague, KP Munusamy, also resigned from Parliament to become a member of the Tamil Nadu assembly. Munusamy won the Veppanahalli constituency. Another Rajya Sabha MP, Biswajit Daimary from Assam, has also quit the Upper House. According to some state officials, the Bharatiya Janata Party MLA is tipped to be the next Speaker of the state assembly.

As per the procedure, byelections will take place to fill up these vacancies. While the TMC and the BJP would be able to retain the seats vacated by their MPs, in Tamil Nadu, both seats vacated by the AIADMK MPs are likely to go to the ruling DMK.

Nominated MP Swapan Dasgupta had also resigned from the Upper House before contesting the West Bengal elections, where he lost. While the four seats in Assam, Bengal and Tamil Nadu would face bypolls, the President of India will have to nominate an eminent person for Dasgupta’s seat. The rules, however, allow the renomination of Dasgupta.