Sarfaraz Ahmad, Pradeep Verma elected to Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand

JMM’s Sarfaraz Ahmad and BJP’s Pradeep Verma secure unopposed Rajya Sabha victory in Jharkhand

Sarfaraz Ahmad of JMM and Pradeep Verma of BJP have been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand, with no third candidate in the fray for the two vacant seats.

JAMSHEDPUR – Syed Javed Haider, the returning officer, declared Sarfaraz Ahmad and Pradeep Verma as winners and handed them the certificates of election on Thursday.

Later in the day, Sarfaraz Ahmed met with Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren.

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

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

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.

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

I would be trying to become the voice of Jharkhand in the Upper House of Parliament,” said Verma, the BJP’s general secretary in the state, thanking the party leadership for entrusting him with the responsibility.

On the other hand, JMM’s Supriyo Bhattacharya had a different take on him.

Pradeep Verma is a native of Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh) and had amassed properties across different parts of Jharkhand, several of which have not been disclosed in the affidavit,” claimed Supriyo Bhattacharya, JMM’s central general secretary and spokesperson.

Mumbai industrialist Harihar Mahapatra had bought nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections but could not prepare the MLAs as his proposer, leading him to distance himself from the elections with only one candidate each from the ruling party and the opposition.