All six candidates who were nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu have been declared elected unopposed.
Three of them have one common feature — Tiruchi Siva of the DMK and M. Thambi Durai and K.P. Munusamy of the AIADMK had served in the Lok Sabha at least once.
Mr. Siva was elected to the Lower House from the now-abolished Pudukottai constituency in 1996.
However, in a close three-cornered contest in 1998, he lost to Raja Paramasivam of the AIADMK by a margin of around 30,000 votes. S. Thirunavukkarasar, now in the Congress and then heading a party of his own — M.G.R. Anna DMK (MADMK) — came third by polling about 2.26 lakh votes.
It was then that Mr. Thambi Durai and Mr. Munusamy made it to the Lok Sabha from the Karur and Krishnagiri constituencies respectively. The former won in Karur for the second time while it was the maiden victory for the latter.
A year later (1999), Mr. Thambi Durai was fielded from Krishnagiri, his home district, and Mr. Munusamy from Dharmapuri. Both lost by margins ranging from 25,500 votes (in Dharmapuri) to 31,800 votes (Krishnagiri).
Since then, Mr. Thambi Durai has never contested from Krishnagiri again, though he got elected from Karur on two more occasions (2009 and 2014). In April-May 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Munusamy returned to Krishnagiri, only to lose to A. Chellakumar of the Congress by a margin of about 1.56 lakh votes. Mr. Thambi Durai too suffered defeat in his familiar terrain, Karur, as he was beaten by S. Jothimani of the Congress with a difference of about 4.2 lakh votes.
Mr. Siva, who began his innings in the Rajya Sabha in 2007, was re-elected to the Upper House in 2014. The latest election is the third one for him.
The three other candidates who have been elected to the Rajya Sabha are N.R. Elango and P. Selvarasu, both from the DMK, and G.K. Vasan of the Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar). The term of all six persons will begin in April.
