NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday issued notifications for elections to 27 Rajya Sabha seats — 24 vacancies arising from retirements in 10 states and three by-elections in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha caused by resignations.
Polling for all 27 seats will be held on June 18, with counting scheduled for the same day after 5 pm, the ECI said. The last date for filing nominations is June 8 till 3 pm. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be conducted by the respective Returning Officers on June 9, while June 11 has been fixed as the last date for withdrawal of candidature, the notification said.
With the regular biennial vacancies for 24 seats from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Mizoram have been created and three casual vacancies cropped up due to resignations, indications are there that the Opposition block is set to gain at least three seats in the Upper House. But, the ruling BJP-led NDA is expected to maintain its current strength.
Prominent members retiring next month include Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, and Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian.
Of the 27 seats going to the polls, the ruling NDA is set to increase its strength by one seat to 19.
The NDA currently holds 148 seats in the 245-member Rajya Sabha.
The Congress currently holds four seats, the JMM one and the YSRCP three. Based on the present strength of parties in state assemblies, the Congress may improve its tally to five seats.
The JMM is likely to win two seats and the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) is expected to open its account in the Upper House with one seat from Tamil Nadu in the by-polls.
The by-polls were necessitated after NCP leader Sunetra Pawar and AIADMK leader C Ve Shanmugam resigned from the Rajya Sabha following their election to the state assemblies. In Odisha, Debashish Samantaray resigned from both the BJD and the Rajya Sabha before joining the BJP.
In Maharashtra, the NDA is comfortably placed to retain the seat vacated by Sunetra Pawar. In Tamil Nadu, the lone seat is expected to go to the TVK with the support of allies and in Odisha the seat is likely to go to the ruling party.
In Andhra Pradesh, the TDP led NDA is poised to secure all four seats. In Gujarat, the BJP is expected to win all four seats, with the Congress likely to lose its only representation from the state.
In Karnataka, the Congress is set to secure three of the four seats, leaving one for the BJP. Kharge is expected to be re-nominated to the Upper House. In Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the BJP is expected to win two seats each, while the Congress is likely to get one seat in both states.
In Jharkhand, the ruling JMM-Congress alliance is expected to win both seats, though the BJP may attempt to force a contest. In the previous biennial elections held in March this year, the BJP secured 13 of the 37 seats contested across 10 states.