BJP’s Laxmi Verma, Cong’s Phulo Devi Netam set for unopposed RS election in CG

Raipur: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee, Laxmi Verma, and Congress candidate Phulo Devi Netam are likely to be elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Chhattisgarh, given the current strength of parties in the state assembly. Two Rajya Sabha seats from the state will fall vacant after April 9 this year. In the election, each candidate needs at least 31 first-preference votes from MLAs to win. The quota is calculated using the formula: total MLAs divided by (vacant seats + 1) plus one. With 90 MLAs and two seats, the winning number comes to 31 votes. The 90-member assembly currently has 54 MLAs from the BJP, 35 from the Indian National Congress (INC), and one from the Gondwana Gantantra Party. With these numbers, the BJP can easily elect one candidate, while the Congress also has enough votes to ensure victory for its nominee. As no third candidate is expected to contest, both Verma and Netam are likely to be elected unopposed once the nomination withdrawal process ends on March 9. The nominations also reflect party strategies: the BJP has fielded Verma to strengthen OBC representation, while the Congress has renominated Netam, a senior tribal leader from Bastar and the current state Mahila Congress president. Chhattisgarh has five members in the Rajya Sabha. Netam and KTS Tulsi will complete their terms on April 9, 2026. Other MPs from the state include Rajiv Shukla and Ranjeet Ranjan of the Congress, whose terms run till June 2028, and Devendra Pratap Singh, whose term ends in April 2030.