Chennai, June 9:
Praveen Chakravarthy of the Indian National Congress is set to be elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu, with nomination filing for the June 18 bye-election closing on Monday.
Backed by the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, Praveen remains the lone valid candidate in the fray. Scrutiny of nominations is scheduled for Tuesday, and he is expected to be officially declared elected on June 11 after the withdrawal deadline.
The vacancy arose following the resignation of C Ve Shanmugam after his election to the State Assembly. Major opposition parties, including the DMK and AIADMK, stayed out of the contest due to insufficient numbers, while independent candidates are likely to be rejected during scrutiny for failing to meet nomination requirements.
With this, the Congress is set to strengthen its presence in the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu, marking another step in its growing alliance with the ruling TVK.