The Election Commission on Wednesday announced that biennial elections to 37 seats in the Rajya Sabha will be held on March 16. The seats are falling vacant on different dates in April. The polls will take place across 10 states: Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. The elections have been necessitated as the incumbent members are retiring this year.
The maximum number of Rajya Sabha seats going to polls is in Maharashtra at 7, while 6 seats are falling vacant in Tamil Nadu and six each in West Bengal and Bihar. Odisha will have 4 seats falling vacant. Assam will see polls to 3 seats. Chhattisgarh and Haryana will each have 2 seats going to polls, as will Telangana. Himachal Pradesh will have 1 seat up for election.
Members retiring from Rajya Sabha
Sharad Pawar (NCP-SP), Harivansh Narayan Singh (JDU), Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena-UBT), Ram Nath Thakur (JDU), Ramdas Athawale (RPI-A), Kiran Chaudhary (BJP), KTS Tulsi (Congress), Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Upendra Kushwaha (RLM), Saket Gokhale (TMC), Ritabrata Banerjee (TMC), Abhishek Manu Singhvi (Congress), Prem Chand Gupta (RJD), Tiruchi Siva (DMK), GK Vasan (TMC-M), and M Thambidurai (AIADMK) are some of the members who are retiring from Rajya Sabha.
State-wise party tally of Rajya Sabha seats
Maharashtra: Out of the 7 seats falling vacant, BJP and NCP-SP have two each 2, while Congress and Ramdas Athawale's RPI (A) have one each. Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena UBT also holds one seat. A notable retiring member in the state is Sharad Pawar. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is set to gain a majority in the state.
Tamil Nadu: Status quo is likely to be maintained in the poll-bound state, with the tally currently sitting at DMK: 4, AIADMK: 1 and TMC-M: 1. This sums up to the INDIA bloc getting 4 seats and NDA two.
West Bengal: Another poll-bound state where the BJP is set to challenge Mamata Banerjee's TMC. The saffron party is set to open its account in the state. The current tally is at TMC: 4 and CPI-M: 1 which means the BJP will gain one seat from the CPI-M - the Left party which is rapidly losing ground in the state.
Bihar: 5 Rajya Sabha seats are set to fall vacant. Of these, 2 are currently held by the JDU, 2 by the RJD and 1 by the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM). In alliance terms, 3 of the outgoing seats belong to parties within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), while 2 are held by constituents of the INDIA bloc.
Odisha: Four Rajya Sabha seats are set to fall vacant. Of these, 2 are currently held by the Bharatiya Janata Party and 2 by the Biju Janata Dal.
Assam: Three Rajya Sabha seats will go to polls. The BJP currently holds 2 of these seats, while 1 is held by the Asom Gana Parishad. In alliance terms, 2 of the outgoing seats will stay with the NDA and 1 with the Opposition's INDIA bloc, thereby maintaing the status quo.
Rajya Sabha elections projection
According to current projections, the NDA is likely to gain 6 seats in the upcoming biennial polls, potentially taking its tally to 21. In contrast, the INDIA bloc may lose 4 seats and could secure around 15 seats this time. The status quo is expected to be maintained in Tamil Nadu and Assam, with no major shifts anticipated in the distribution of seats.
The Congress is projected to improve its position in Telangana, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, where it is likely to gain seats.
