Union Petroleum Minister and BJP candidate Hardeep Singh Puri was on Thursday declared elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha bypoll from Madhya Pradesh, an official said.On the last day of the withdrawal of nominations, Puri, who was the sole candidate in the fray as the papers of other two nominees were rejected during scrutiny, was declared elected to the Upper House of Parliament by Returning Officer Umesh Sharma.Madhya Pradesh BJP president Hemant Khandelwal collected Puri’s certificate of election from the returning officer in the presence of party MLA Rameshwar Sharma.On the last day for the scrutiny of papers, the nominations of the other two candidates, Kante Sayanna and Rajkumar Lohani, who was backed by the Opposition Congress, were rejected. The bypoll, if necessary, was to take place on November 12.The Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant after the resignation of former Union minister L Murugan from the Upper House last month, necessitating the bypoll. Murugan’s term was due to end on April 2, 2030.The BJP then fielded Puri, a career diplomat-turned-politician, as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha by-election.