New Delhi: The biennial elections for 56 Rajya Sabha seats that would become vacant in April will be held on February 27. The Election Commission issued the polling schedule for 15 states on Monday.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, BJP President JP Nadda, and nine Union ministers, including railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, environment minister Bhupendra Yadav, and health minister Mansukh Mandaviya, are among those retiring shortly before the Lok Sabha elections.
Nadda is a Rajya Sabha MP representing his home state of Himachal Pradesh, where the Congress party now holds power. Singh represents Rajasthan in the Upper House, the New Indian Express reported.
Uttar Pradesh will have the most vacancies with ten seats. This is followed by Bihar and Maharashtra, where six MPs' terms will come to an end. Other states that will have vacancies include MP (5), West Bengal (5), Karnataka (4), Gujarat (4), Odisha (3), Telangana (3), Andhra Pradesh (3), and Rajasthan (3). Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Chhattisgarh will all have one seat apiece.
The EC announced on Monday that it has decided to hold biennial elections to the Council of States, with the deadline for nominations being February 15. The counting of votes will take place on February 27.
“Adequate measures for close monitoring of the poll process by appointing observers shall be taken to ensure free and fair elections,” read the note.
The retiring MPs include BJP members Anil Agrawal, Ashok Bajpai, GVL Narasimha Rao, Sudhanshu Trivedi, and Harnath Singh Yadav, as well as Samajwadi Party member Jaya Bachchan from Uttar Pradesh. MoS for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, MSME Minister Narayan Rane, former Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, Congress member Kumar Ketkar, NCP's Vandana Chavan, and Shiv Sena (UBT) member Anil Desai are completing their terms as RS MPs from Maharashtra. Following the rift in Maharashtra's Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena, the RS elections in the state will be closely monitored.