The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the schedule for biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha and a bye-election to the Upper House, along with biennial polls to Legislative Council seats in four states.
The Rajya Sabha elections will cover 11 seats falling vacant in November due to the retirement of sitting members. Uttar Pradesh accounts for 10 seats, while one seat is from Uttarakhand. A separate bye-election will be held for one seat in West Bengal, which became vacant after the resignation of Trinamool Congress MP Rukmini Mallik.
The notification for the Rajya Sabha elections will be issued on September 29. Candidates can file their nominations until October 6, followed by scrutiny on October 7. The deadline for withdrawing candidature is October 9.
Voting will take place on October 16 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, while counting will begin at 5:00 PM on the same day.
Retiring Rajya Sabha members
The members retiring from Uttar Pradesh are Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Arun Singh, Brijlal, BL Verma, Ram Gopal Yadav, Neerja Shekhar, Geeta Alias Chandraprabha, Ramji, Seema and Dr. Dinesh Sharma. Naresh Bansal is the only retiring Rajya Sabha member from Uttarakhand.
The ECI has instructed that voters must use only the integrated violet colour sketch pens supplied by Returning Officers in the specified format to mark their preferences on ballot papers.
Legislative Council elections
The Commission has also scheduled biennial elections for 28 Legislative Council seats across Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh will vote for 11 seats, comprising five Graduates' and six Teachers' constituencies. Bihar has eight seats, divided equally between four Graduates' and four Teachers' constituencies.
Maharashtra will elect members for five seats, including three Graduates' and two Teachers' constituencies. Karnataka will have elections for four seats, with two each from the Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies.
For these elections, the notification will also be issued on September 29. The nomination process will close on October 6, scrutiny will be conducted on October 7 and candidates will be allowed to withdraw their nominations until October 9.
Polling for all 28 Legislative Council seats is scheduled for October 23 from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Votes will be counted on October 27.
The Model Code of Conduct has come into force with immediate effect in all the concerned Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies across the four states.
Follow us
