Rajya Sabha: S Jaishankar, Derek O'Brien among four re-elected

The monsoon session of the Parliament came to an end on Friday, August 11. Nine members of the Rajya Sabha retired at the end of the session, out of which four were re-elected. Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar and three members of the Trinamool Congress — Sukhendu Sekhar Ray, Derek O Brien and Dola Sen, were re-elected to the upper house.

The other members —Sushmita Dev and Shanta Chhetri from the Trinamool Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Jugalsinh Lokhandwala and Dineshchandra Jemalbhai Anavadiya, and Pradip Bhattacharya from the Congress — were not re-elected.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said that the presence of the five members would be missed, reported news agency PTI.

“The five retiring members have made rich and significant contributions to the proceedings of the House during the course of their tenure. I am sure they would cherish the unique honour of their association with the House and will continue with their contribution to the nation at large,” the Vice President was quoted as saying.

Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge asserted that there was no retirement in politics and the members are not stepping down permanently, the report added.

The occasion also had Leader of House Piyush Goyal draw attention to the contributions of S Jaishankar as a minister and a member of the Rajya Sabha. He also congratulated Jagdeep Dhankar on completing one year as the vice president.

In July, six TMC and five BJP candidates were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha, CNBCTV18 reported. The members included S Jaishankar and Derek O'Brien. The TMC also won a by-poll on a seat in the Upper House. There was no voting for six seats in West Bengal, one seat in Goa and three in Gujarat as the members were unopposed. Anant Maharaj became the only BJP Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal. The ruling party and its allies do not enjoy a majority in the Upper House. The Congress lost one seat in the polls, bringing its count to 30.

Each member of the Rajya Sabha has a six-year term. Unlike the Lok Sabha, the Upper House is a permanent body and is not subject to dissolution. But a third of its members retire every second year.