Hardeep Singh Puri elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh

Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri was on Thursday elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in a by-election from Madhya Pradesh, an official said.

Puri, 74, was declared elected by Returning Officer Umesh Sharma on the last day for withdrawal of nominations, after emerging as the sole candidate in the contest.

The nomination papers of the other two candidates, Kante Sayanna and Rajkumar Lohani, who was backed by the Opposition Congress, had been rejected during scrutiny. The bypoll was scheduled to be held on 12 November if required.

Madhya Pradesh BJP president Hemant Khandelwal collected Puri's certificate of election from the returning officer in the presence of party MLA Rameshwar Sharma.

Khandelwal later told reporters that the BJP's official candidate had been elected unopposed. He said several party leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda, had been authorised to receive the certificate.

Khandelwal congratulated BJP workers on the election of Puri, a career diplomat-turned-politician.

After collecting the certificate, Khandelwal and BJP state organisation general secretary Chandrashekhar met Chief Minister Mohan Yadav at his residence and informed him about the development.

The Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant after former Union minister L Murugan resigned from the Upper House last month. His term was scheduled to end on 2 April 2030.

The BJP subsequently fielded Puri as its candidate for the by-election.

Puri's past interactions with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein came under scrutiny in February 2026 after emails between the two, released by the US Department of Justice, surfaced publicly.

Puri acknowledged meeting Epstein three or four times between 2014 and 2017, when he was associated with the International Peace Institute after retiring as India's ambassador to the UN, but denied any involvement in Epstein's criminal activities.

The correspondence included Puri pitching investment opportunities in India to Epstein and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, seeking to facilitate Hoffman's visit to India, and asking Epstein to let him know when he returned from his 'exotic island'.

In another exchange, Puri wrote “have fun”. He also forwarded a request from Epstein for help obtaining an Indian visa for an assistant to a former diplomat. Puri said the interactions were professional, maintained that he had never visited Epstein's private island and denied any wrongdoing.