NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the schedule for biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha and Legislative Councils in four states, along with a bye-election to the Upper House seat from West Bengal.
The biennial Rajya Sabha elections will cover 11 seats, including 10 in Uttar Pradesh and one in Uttarakhand, where the Assembly polls are due early next year.
The seats are going to fall vacant following the retirement of sitting members in November. A separate bye-election will be held for a casual vacancy in West Bengal caused by the resignation of TMC MP Rukmini Mallik.
According to the statement issued by the ECI, the process for the Rajya Sabha elections will begin on September 29, when notifications will be issued.
The last date for filing nominations is October 6, followed by scrutiny of nominations on October 7. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 9.
Polling will be held on October 16 from 9 am to 4 pm, with counting scheduled for 5 pm the same day.
The Rajya Sabha members retiring from Uttar Pradesh are Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Arun Singh, Brijlal, BL Verma, Ram Gopal Yadav, Neerja Shekhar, Geeta alias Chandraprabha, Ramji, Seema and Dr Dinesh Sharma. Naresh Bansal is the sole retiring member from Uttarakhand.
The Commission has also directed Returning Officers to provide integrated violet-colour sketch pens of a specified design for marking preferences on ballot papers.
Meanwhile, in a separate order, the ECI announced biennial elections for 28 seats in the Legislative Councils of Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh will elect members to 11 seats, comprising five Graduates’ and six Teachers’ constituencies.
Bihar will vote for eight seats, including four each from Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies, while Maharashtra will elect members to five seats, comprising three Graduates’ and two Teachers’ constituencies. Karnataka will have elections for four seats, with two each from the Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies.
The Legislative Council election process will also begin on September 29, with October 6 as the deadline for nominations. Scrutiny will take place on October 7, while October 9 will be the last date for withdrawal of candidature.
Polling for all 28 Council seats will be held on October 23 from 8 am to 4 pm. Counting of votes will take place on October 27.
The ECI said the Model Code of Conduct has come into force with immediate effect in all the concerned Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies across the four states.