New Delhi: TheElection Commission on Tuesday announced the schedule for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections to 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Polling for 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and one seat in Uttarakhand will be held on October 16. The counting of votes has been scheduled for the same day.
The election notification will be issued on September 29. Candidates can file their nominations until October 6. The scrutiny of nomination papers will be on October 7. The deadline for withdrawing nominations is October 9.
At present, eight of the Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, which are going to polls, are represented by BJP members. One seat each is held by the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party each. The retiring members include several prominent political figures.
Among those whose terms are set to end are Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, BJP national general secretary Arun Singh, former Director General of Police Brijlal, Geeta Shakya (Chandraprabha), Seema Dwivedi, BL Verma and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav. Former Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma is also set to end ending. He subsequently took charge as a governor.
All eyes on UP Rajya Sabha polls
Uttar Pradesh sends the largest number of members to the Rajya Sabha, making elections to its Upper House seats politically significant. The Members of the Upper House are elected indirectly by elected members of the state legislative assemblies. Unlike Lok Sabha elections, voters do not directly elect Rajya Sabha candidates.
The outcome of the Uttar Pradesh contest will therefore depend on the strength of different parties and alliances in the state Assembly, as well as the candidates ultimately fielded by the political parties.
Uttarakhand to elect one Rajya Sabha Member
Uttarakhand will also elect a member to the Rajya Sabha as part of the polling exercise. The election schedule for the Uttarakhand seat will follow the same nomination, scrutiny and polling timetable announced for the other contests.
West Bengal Rajya Sabha bypoll
Alongside the elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the Election Commission has scheduled a Rajya Sabha by-election for one seat in West Bengal on October 16. It is different from the regular elections being held for the retiring seats in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as it is being conducted to fill a vacancy.
