Rajya Sabha elections on June 18: Polls announced for 24 seats across 10 states
Election Commission has announced Rajya Sabha elections for 24 seats across 10 states on June 18. Several senior leaders, including HD Deve Gowda, Mallikarjun Kharge and Digvijaya Singh, are set to retire
Rajya Sabha polls: The Election Commission on Friday announced elections for 24 Rajya Sabha seats spread across 10 states. The polling will take place on June 18 as several sitting members of the Upper House are completing their terms in the coming weeks.
The retiring members include former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.
According to the Election Commission, the terms of these members will end between June 21 and July 19.
Voting to be held in 10 states
The Rajya Sabha elections will take place in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.
Among these states, Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh will each see elections for four seats. Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will have polling for three seats each, while two seats will go to polls in Jharkhand.
One seat each will be contested in Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.
The last date for filing nomination papers is June 8.
Several senior leaders set To retire
A number of well-known political figures are completing their Rajya Sabha tenure this year. Those retiring include HD Deve Gowda and Mallikarjun Kharge from Karnataka, Digvijaya Singh from Madhya Pradesh and Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil.
Union ministers Ravneet Singh from Rajasthan and George Kurian from Madhya Pradesh are also among the outgoing members.
The upcoming elections are expected to be important for both the ruling alliance and the opposition as parties prepare to reshuffle their parliamentary strength in the Upper House.
EC also announces Rajya Sabha bypolls
Apart from the regular elections, the Election Commission has also declared bypolls for one Rajya Sabha seat each in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
The Maharashtra seat became vacant after Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar resigned from the Rajya Sabha following her election to the state assembly.
Further details regarding candidates and party nominations are expected in the coming days.