Sharad Pawar, Athawale among 26 elected unopposed to RS

NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar and Union minister Ramdas Athawale were among 26 candidates who were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

After the last date of withdrawal of candidature, elections to 11 seats of the Upper House -- five in Bihar, four in Odisha and two in Haryana -- would be held on March 16.

Bihar's longest-serving Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and BJP president Nitin Nabin are likely to be elected to the Rajya Sabha in the biennial elections.

As many as 40 candidates had filed their papers for 37 seats that fell vacant in 10 states, leading to a keen contest for one seat each in Bihar, Odisha and Haryana. Fourteen candidates now remain in the fray for 11 seats.

BJP president Nabin on Monday appointed central observers for Rajya Sabha polls in Bihar, Haryana and Odisha.

Union minister Harsh Malhotra and Chhattisgarh deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma have been appointed as central observers for the polls in Bihar.

Gujarat deputy chief minister Harsh Sanghavi has been made observer for Haryana, while Maharashtra minister Chandrasekhar Bawankule will be central observer for Odisha, a notification stated.

Bihar will witness a keen contest for one seat as RJD MP Amarendra Dhari Singh, a businessman turned politician, has been renominated.

Other NDA candidates from Bihar are Union minister Ram Nath Thakur seeking a hat-trick, RLM president Upendra Kushwaha aiming for a second consecutive term, and BJP state general secretary Shivesh Kumar making his parliamentary debut.

Nitish Kumar announced his decision to enter the Rajya Sabha last week, bringing the curtains down on his 20-year tenure as the state's longest-serving CM.

The RJD has 25 MLAs along with 10 others of the Mahagathbandhan, including the Congress and Left, and hopes to make up for the deficit of six votes with the help of the AIMIM and the BSP.

According to Bihar Vidhan Sabha secretary Khyati Singh, none of the six candidates withdrew their nomination papers, "necessitating voting for the first time in the state in more than a decade".

Odisha too shall have a contest for one seat, as two candidates each of ruling BJP - state unit president Manmohan Samal and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar and opposition BJD's Santrupt Misra and eminent urologist Dr Datteswar Hota, are in the fray, while Dilip Ray filed as an independent with BJP's support, sparking the possibility of cross-voting.