JAIPUR: Union minister of state for tourism, Alphons Kannanthanam , was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan in a bypoll on Thursday.The seat had fallen vacant after former Union minister Venkaiah Naidu was elected as the Vice-President in August.Returning officer at the Rajasthan legislative assembly, Prithvi Raj, declared the bureaucrat-turned-politician elected unopposed on Thursday after no other candidate submitted papers even on the last day of filing.With Alphons ' election, the state's representation in the union council of ministers is back to six, which had come down by one after Naidu took over as Vice-President. He was made a minister in the last cabinet reshuffle in September.Calling Rajasthan the land of 'bhakti and shakti', Alphons said he will represent the poor and the common man.

Source: Times of India November 10, 2017 01:17 UTC