ITANAGAR, June 12 - BJP nominee and former Arunachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Nabam Rebia was elected to the Rajya Sabha uncontested from the frontier State today.
This will be his third stint in the Upper House.
�Since he was the lone candidate for the biennial election to the Council of States from Arunachal Pradesh and today being the last date for withdrawal of candidature, upon expiry of the time fixed for withdrawal, i.e. 3 pm, Rebia was declared elected unopposed to the Council of States from Arunachal Pradesh,� Returning Officer-cum-State Assembly Secretary Kago Habung said.
The RO also handed over the certificate of election to the newly elected Rajya Sabha member in Nokmey Namaty Hall of the State Legislative Assembly in the presence of Speaker Pasang Dorjee Sona, Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and other Cabinet ministers, MLAs and Election Observer Juhi Mukherjee.
The biennial election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Arunachal Pradesh was scheduled on June 19. Notably, no candidate from the Opposition filed nomination since the Congress did not have the required numbers.
In the 60-member House, the ruling BJP has 41 MLAs and Opposition Congress has only four members. The Janata Dal (United) with seven MLAs and the National People�s Party with four members are supporting the Pema Khandu-led BJP Government.
There are three Independent MLAs, while the State�s lone regional party, People�s Party of Arunachal (PPA), has one member.
Rebia, who will replace Mukut Mithi of the Congress, had represented the State in the Upper House of Parliament for two consecutive terms � first as an Independent (1996 to 2002) and then as a Congress member from 2002 to 2008. Mithi�s tenure will end on June 23.
Rebia had also been a Cabinet minister in the previous Pema Khandu Government and held the portfolios of Urban Development and Housing, Town Planning, Urban Local Bodies, and Law and Justice till 2019. He also served as the Speaker of the State Assembly during the tenure of the Nabam Tuki-led Congress Government.
