Veteran Congress leader P.Chidambaram was nominated by the Indian National Congress for a Rajya Sabha seat from Maharashtra on Saturday. The move came after the two Dravidian parties nominated candidates for all the six vacant seats in Tamil Nadu.

With DMK announcing two candidates from their party for the same vacant seats, the national party was forced to nominate Chidambaram from another state. Reports suggest that Congress was hoping that DMK would accommodate the former cabinet minister for one of the seats.

While this is his first Rajya Sabha nomination, Chidambaram, who hails from Sivaganga district in Southern Tamil Nadu has won eight Lok Sabha elections from the constituency.  He has previously held the portfolios of Minister of Finance, Minister of Home Affairs, among others.

Tamil Nadu will see six Rajya Sabha members – three from the ruling AIADMK, two from DMK and one member from Congress retiring on June 29. AIADMK is nominating four candidates, and DMK two, and all the nominated candidates are expected to be elected to the Upper House without any glitch, as the parties have made the nominations in accordance to their strength in the state assembly.

The Election Commission has slated the Rajya Sabha elections to be held on June 11.