Ravneet Singh Bittu elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan in bypoll

The nomination paper of independent candidate Babita Vadhwani was rejected during scrutiny on August 22 while BJP’s dummy candidate Sunil Kothari withdrew his nomination on Friday, making Ravneet Singh Bittu as the lone candidate in the race.

The election was necessitated after Congress leader K C Venugopal was elected to the Lok Sabha from Alappuzha. He had served as a RS MP from June 2020 until his resignation following his election as a LS MP.

Taking to X, Bittu thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president J P Nadda and Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma “for entrusting me with the honour of representing Rajasthan in the Rajya Sabha. This opportunity is a testament to the faith and confidence the party’s top leadership has placed in me, and for that, I am truly humbled.”

“To the people of Rajasthan, I vow to work tirelessly to ensure that your aspirations and ambitions are not just heard but are actively pursued. Together, we will strive to bring even greater progress and prosperity to the beloved state,” he said.

Bittu is the grandson of slain former Punjab chief minister and Congress stalwart Beant Singh who was killed on August 31, 1995, along with 12 others in a suicide attack in Chandigarh.

Bittu had lost the recently concluded Lok Sabha election from Ludhiana. A three-time Congress MP, Bittu was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 from Anandpur Sahib and subsequently won from Ludhiana in 2014 and 2019. Ahead of the latest Lok Sabha election, he switched to the BJP but lost to Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring by over 20,000 votes.

This will be his first stint in the Rajya Sabha. With Bittu’s election, both Congress and BJP will have five RS MPs in Rajasthan.

His term of membership will be till June 21, 2026.