The Election Commission on Monday issued the notification for biennial elections to 24 Rajya Sabha seats spread across ten states, setting in motion the process for electing new members to the Upper House of Parliament.
According to the notification, four Rajya Sabha seats each will go to polls in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh will each elect three members, while two seats will be filled from Jharkhand. One seat each will also be contested in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya.
Polling for all 24 seats is scheduled to be held on June 18, with counting of votes and declaration of results to take place on the same day.
The nomination process has commenced following the issuance of the notification. Candidates can file their nomination papers until June 8, after which scrutiny and other election-related procedures will be completed before voting day.
The Election Commission also issued notifications for Rajya Sabha by-elections to one seat each in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. These vacancies will be filled through separate bypolls in accordance with the schedule announced by the poll panel.
In addition, the Election Commission announced the election schedule for eight Rajya Sabha seats that are falling vacant in Assam and Tamil Nadu. The notification for these seats is scheduled to be issued separately.
With the election schedule now in place, political parties have begun internal consultations and deliberations to finalise their candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections. Candidate selection is expected to gather pace in the coming days as parties assess their numerical strength in the respective state legislatures and work towards securing representation in the Upper House.
The Rajya Sabha elections are conducted through an indirect voting system in which elected members of the respective state legislative assemblies cast their votes to elect representatives to Parliament’s Upper House.
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