The Election Commission on Friday announced that the biennial elections to fill 24 Rajya Sabha seats in 10 states will be held on June 18, opening a polling cycle where the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will look to move closer to the two-thirds majority mark in the Senate.
The poll panel also announced by-elections for one seat each in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and Union Ministers George Koren and Ravneet Singh Bittu are among the Rajya Sabha members whose terms expire in June.
The deadline to fill out nominations is June 8, and results will be announced on June 18. The BJP is the largest single party with 113 members (including five nominated MPs) and the NDA now has 149 members in the 245-member House.
Of the 24 seats that fell vacant, the BJP held 12, the Congress four, the Telugu Desam Party one and the YSR Congress three.
One of the seats that fell vacant due to the death of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren will also go to the polls as will one each in Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
Rajya Sabha elections will be held on four seats each in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka, three seats each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two seats in Jharkhand and one seat each in Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.
In Maharashtra, the vacancy arose after Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar resigned from the Rajya Sabha after winning the Baramati Assembly bypoll. In Tamil Nadu, the vacancy arose after C V Shanmugam resigned from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) after being elected to the state assembly.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam can make its debut in the Upper House from the state or give the seat to its ally Congress.
In Andhra Pradesh, where the LDP, a member of the NDA, is in power, the ruling distribution is expected to take all four seats. The retiring members from Andhra Pradesh include YSRCP’s Parimal Nathwani, Subhash Chandra Bose Bailey, Ayodhya Ramy Reddy and TDP’s Sana Satish Babu. The LDF is now expected to win three of these four seats, with the fourth seat likely to go to the BJP or Jana Sena, which is also a member of the NDA. People familiar with the details said that the TDP may prefer Jana Sena on the fourth seat.
In Karnataka, Congress expects to make gains, as it prepares to increase its vote tally from one to three. Of the four seats, the BJP, which has tied up with the secular Janata Dal, expects to get one seat. Among the retiring members are Kharge, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, JD(S) patriarch Deve Gowda, BJP’s Irana Kadadi and Narayana Kurajappa. Kharge is expected to be renominated while discussions are underway for the remaining two seats, people familiar with the details said.
The BJP will get all the four vacant seats in Gujarat. Among the members whose terms are expiring are Ramilaben Basharbhai Bara of the BJP, Rambhai Mukariya, Narhari Amin and Shaktisinh Gohil of the Congress.
In Jharkhand, the Congress is expected to win one of the two vacant seats. The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha will retain the seat, which fell vacant after the death of party founder Shibu Soren.
The Congress is also expected to retain a seat in Rajasthan, where three members, including Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, BJP’s Rajendra Gehlot and Congress’ Neeraj Dhange, will retire.
In Madhya Pradesh, Congress hopes to retain one of the three vacant seats. The retirees include Union Minister of State George Koren, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sumer Singh Solanki and Congress’ Digvijaya Singh. Singh has already announced that he will not seek re-election.
The NDA’s National People’s Party is set to retain its only seat in Meghalaya, while the Mizoram People’s Movement is likely to win the only seat in Mizoram. Earlier, the Mizoram National Front held the seat. The BJP is likely to retain its seats in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur.
