ECI announces Rajya Sabha polls for 12 seats on Oct 16

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the schedule for biennial elections to 11 Rajya Sabha seats and 28 Legislative Council seats across four states, along with a bye-election to a Rajya Sabha seat in West Bengal.

The Rajya Sabha elections will cover 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh and one in Uttarakhand, both of which are scheduled to hold Assembly elections early next year. The seats will fall vacant following the retirement of sitting members in November, The New Indian Express reported.

A separate bye-election will be conducted for a casual vacancy in West Bengal created by the resignation of Trinamool Congress MP Rukmini Mallik.

According to the ECI schedule, the election process for the Rajya Sabha seats will begin on September 29 with the issuance of notifications. The deadline for filing nominations is October 6, while scrutiny will take place on October 7. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 9.

Voting will be held on October 16 from 9 am to 4 pm, with vote counting scheduled to begin at 5 pm on the same day.

The Rajya Sabha members retiring from Uttar Pradesh include 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 member from Uttarakhand.

In a separate announcement, the ECI notified biennial elections for 28 Legislative Council seats in Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh will hold elections for 11 seats, comprising five Graduates’ constituencies and six Teachers’ constituencies. Bihar will elect members to eight seats, with four each from the Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies.

Maharashtra will conduct elections for five seats, including three Graduates’ and two Teachers’ constituencies. Karnataka will elect members to four seats, divided equally between the Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies.

The election process for the Legislative Council seats will also commence on September 29. Candidates must submit their nominations by October 6, with scrutiny scheduled for October 7 and withdrawal permitted until October 9.

Polling for all 28 seats will take place on October 23 from 8 am to 4 pm. The counting of votes is scheduled for October 27.

The ECI said the Model Code of Conduct had come into effect immediately across all the concerned Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies in the four states.