
Candidates for Maharashtra's 6 Rajya Sabha seats were elected unopposed.
Sources said former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who recently handed over the baton to her son Rahul Gandhi, had decided on Kumar Ketkar's candidature, even though he is not a party member.
Of the six Rajya Sabha seats, the Congress and the NCP had two each, Shiv Sena and the BJP had one each. Now, the BJP gets three seats while the others get one each.
There was a last-minute hiccup as the BJP fielded Vijaya Rahatkar -- the chairperson of the state women's commission - as a fourth candidate, forcing an election in one of the seats. But Ms Rahatkar withdrew her candidature today, ensuring unopposed election of the rest.
The BJP is set to increase the tally of its Rajya Sabha numbers from Maharashtra and in the state Legislative Council owing to its improved performance in the 2014 state assembly elections, where it emerged as the single largest party, but fell short of majority on its own.
In Gujarat, four candidates have been elected unopposed to the state's four Rajya Sabha seats. Two have been elected from the BJP and two have been elected from the Congress. Two Independents, who were also in the fray withdrew their candidature, so there was no contest.