Former Chief Minister Narayan Rane who had quit Congress to join BJP, veteran journalist Kumar Ketkar were among the six candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra on Thursday.
The candidates were elected unopposed after Dr Vijaya Rahatkar, the Chairperson of Maharashtra State Women's Right Commission, who was the fourth candidate of the BJP, withdrew her nomination.
Those elected on BJP tickets include Ministry of Human Resource Development Prakash Javdekar, V Muraleedharan, a senior BJP leader from Kerela and Narayan Rane, founder of Maharashtra Swabhiman Paksha after quitting Congress.
Ketkar, a veteran journalist and the President of Mumbai Press Club, was the Congress candidate.
Others who got elected include NCP's Vandana Chavan, a former Pune Mayor and Anil Desai, the close aide of Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray.
Rane was not inclined to go to the Upper House of Parliament and wanted to play a role in the state politics, however, because of opposition from Shiv Sena - a party where he started his political career - Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis offered him the Rajya Sabha seat.