Kamal Haasan, P. Wilson, Salma among six elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu

Kamal Haasan, Wilson, Salma among six elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu

Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) founder Kamal Haasan, former Additional Advocate General and incumbent MP P. Wilson, poet Rajathi alias Salma, and S.R. Sivalingam — all backed by the DMK and its allies — were on Thursday (June 12, 2025) declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK’s I.S. Inbadurai and M. Dhanapal were also elected unopposed to the Upper House.

Addressing journalists, B. Subramaniyam, Returning Officer and Additional Secretary, Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Secretariat, said as the number of seats for which elections were to be held and the number of valid nominations were the same, the candidates have been declared elected unopposed.

These six candidates were declared elected unopposed after their valid nominations remained in the fray as of the last date for withdrawal on Thursday. While a total of 13 nominations were received, only these six were found valid during scrutiny. Except for incumbent MP Mr. Wilson, all others would be first-time Rajya Sabha members.

This election also marks the entry of Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam into the Rajya Sabha and the exit of the MDMK (which still has representation in the Lok Sabha) and the PMK from the Upper House. The election was necessitated as the tenure of six MPs would end in July 2025. With these results, the DMK’s strength in the Rajya Sabha remains at 10, while the AIADMK’s strength increases by one.

Tamil Nadu has 18 seats in the Rajya Sabha. Apart from the DMK and AIADMK, the Congress and Tamil Maanila Congress (Moopanar) also have representation. Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P. Chidambaram and former Union Minister G.K. Vasan represent Tamil Nadu in the Upper House for their respective parties.

Incidentally, the election also revealed the state of political alliances. Within two days of the announcement by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the DMK named three candidates and allocated one seat to the Makkal Needhi Maiam, as per a prior agreement .In the AIADMK camp, although the DMDK publicly claimed that a seat-sharing agreement existed with the party, it went ahead and named two of its own candidates. The AIADMK later clarified that the DMDK would be allotted a seat in the 2026 Rajya Sabha elections.