11 Rajya Sabha seats to go to polls on October 16; Hardeep Singh Puri’s seat among those falling vacant
PTC Web Desk: The Election Commission of India has announced the schedule for elections to 11 Rajya Sabha seats whose members are set to complete their terms on November 25. Voting for all the seats will be held on October 16.
Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri is among the prominent members whose Rajya Sabha tenure is coming to an end. Puri was elected to the Upper House from Uttar Pradesh for a six-year term.
His impending retirement from the Rajya Sabha has triggered discussions over who could be chosen to replace him, particularly because Puri is currently the only Sikh member in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Union Council of Ministers.
The development has also drawn attention in the context of Punjab politics, with the state scheduled to hold its next Assembly elections. Former Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu’s Rajya Sabha tenure had ended on June 20, and he was not renominated.
Apart from Hardeep Puri, several other prominent names from Uttar Pradesh are also completing their Rajya Sabha terms. These include BJP leader and former general secretary Arun Singh, Neeraj Shekhar, son of former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, Samajwadi Party general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav and former Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma.
Dinesh Sharma was recently appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
According to the Election Commission, the official notification for the Rajya Sabha elections will be issued on September 29. Candidates will have until October 6 to file their nomination papers.
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Uttar Pradesh accounts for 10 of the 11 seats going to polls, while the remaining seat is from Uttarakhand. The term of Uttarakhand Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal is also scheduled to end on November 25.
The upcoming elections will therefore decide the next set of representatives from both states in the Rajya Sabha, while the nominations are expected to attract considerable political attention in the weeks ahead.
- PTC NEWS
