Chidambaram resigns from Maharashtra seat following election to RS from TN

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram resigned from his seat in Maharashtra on Thursday, following his election to the Rajya Sabha from the state of Tamil Nadu.

"Following my election to the Rajya Sabha from the state of Tamil Nadu, I am required to resign my seat from the state of Maharashtra. Accordingly, today I tendered my resignation from the seat from the state of Maharashtra," tweeted the Congress leader today.

The tweet further read, "The Hon'ble Chairman of the Rajya Sabha has accepted my resignation. I was honoured to represent the state of Maharashtra. I wish the people of Maharashtra the very best in the future, peace and prosperity."

On June 11, the BJP registered a win by bagging eight out of 16 Rajya Sabha seats in the four states (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Haryana) while Congrees bagged five seats in a fiercely contested battle. The biennial elections to the Upper House of Parliament were held for six seats in Maharashtra, four each in Karnataka and Rajasthan along with two seats in Haryana on June 10. The results for all four States were declared early morning on June 11.

Counting was held up in two states -- Haryana and Maharashtra - for over eight hours amid complaints of cross-voting and rules violations.

In Maharashtra, where the counting of votes was hugely delayed, the ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar's NCP and the Congress won three out of six seats while the BJP bagged three seats. The BJP winners include Union Minister Piyush Goyal, former state Minister Anil Bonde and party leader Dhananjay Mahadik.

NCP's Praful Patel, Congress' Imran Pratapgadi and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut were also elected to Rajya Sabha from the state.

Both BJP and the Shiv Sena approached the Election Commission in Maharashtra, alleging cross-voting and seeking disqualification of votes.

The Rajya Sabha election is crucial in view of the Presidential elections next month. The biennial elections to Rajya Sabha were held to fill 57 seats in the Upper House across 15 states. Of them, 41 candidates belonging to various parties in different states have won unopposed

The newly elected candidates included 11 from Uttar Pradesh, six from Tamil Nadu, five from Bihar, four from Andhra Pradesh, three each from Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, two each from Chattisgarh, Punjab, Telangana and Jharkhand along with one from Uttarkhand.

Out of these 41 seats, BJP bagged 14 seats- eight from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh and one from Jharkhand, one from Uttarakhand.