Sushil Kumar Modi elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Bihar

Senior Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi was on Monday declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in a bypoll that was necessitated by the death of Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan.

Sushil Modi was declared elected unopposed on the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers.

In addition to the former deputy chief minister, a lone Independent candidate, Shyam Nandan Prasad, had filed his nomination papers which were rejected during scrutiny.

Prasad's papers were not supported by at least 10 members of the 243-strong assembly as proposers, which is mandatory, poll officials said.

Sushil Modi was handed over his certificate in the presence of a host of dignitaries, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, with whom he is known to enjoy an excellent rapport, his successors as deputy chief minister Tar Kishore Prasad and Renu Devi and state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal.