JMM's Sarfaraz Ahmad, BJP's Pradeep Verma elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed

Ranchi: JMM leader Sarfaraz Ahmad and BJP's Pradeep Verma were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand on Thursday.

Returning officer Syed Javed Haider handed them the certificates of election after declaring them winners.

"Since only two candidates were in the fray for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand, they were declared winner unopposed," Haider told PTI.

After receiving the certificate, Verma thanked the BJP leadership for entrusting him with the responsibility.

"The party has given big responsibility to a small-time worker like me. I thank our senior leaders for this. I would be trying to become the voice of Jharkhand in the Upper House of Parliament," said Verma, who is the BJP's general secretary in the state.

Ahmad, who resigned as an MLA in January, said he would be raising the issues concerning Jharkhand in Rajya Sabha.

Ahmad, who holds a PhD, has a long history in politics, having been first elected as an MLA in 1980 in undivided Bihar and serving as a Member of Parliament from 1984 to 1989 representing Giridih.

The seats will fall vacant as the tenure of the two incumbent MPs, BJP's Samir Oraon and Congress's Diraj Prasad Sahu, will end on May 3.

Jharkhand has six seats in the Rajya Sabha. Of the other four, two each are held by the state's ruling JMM and opposition BJP.