By IANS,
Chennai : The Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha from Puducherry, P. Kannan, was declared elected unopposed Saturday evening.
“The result was officially declared at 3 p.m,” M.Shivaprakasam, the returning officer, told IANS from Puducherry by phone.
Kannan, a former state assembly speaker, had merged his party – the Puducherry Munnetra Congress (PMC) – with the Congress last month.
Apart from him, three Independents had entered the fray. But their nominations were rejected as they did not fulfil the required norms.
Kannan was the health minister in the cabinet of M.O.H. Farook from 1985 to 1990 and was elected the speaker in 1991.
The 30-member Puducherry assembly has 13 Congress members, seven from DMK, three from the AIADMK, two from PMK, one each from the Communist Party of India and the MDMK and three Independents.