Rajya Sabha Election 2024: Date, Schedule, List Of States And All You Need To Know
While 50 members of the Upper House of Parliament are due to retire on April 2, the term of the remaining six will conclude on April 3.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has declared that elections for 56 Rajya Sabha seats from 15 states would be held on February 27. The last date for filing nominations is February 15. Polling will be held between 9 and 4 pm, and the counting of votes will take place on the same day.
While 50 members of the Upper House of Parliament are due to retire on April 2, the term of the remaining six will conclude on April 3. The maximum number of seats -- 10-- are from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Bihar and Maharashtra which have six seats each.
The tenure of Rajya Sabha members is six years. One-third of its members retire every two years to ensure constant functionality of the house. Elected members of the State Legislative Assembly vote for members of the Rajya Sabha.
Rajya Sabha Election 2024: Schedule
Issue of notification: Thursday, February 8, 2024
Last date for filing nominations: Thursday, February 15
Scrutiny of nominations: Friday, February 16
Last date for withdrawal of candidatures: Tuesday, February 20
Polling date: Tuesday, February 27, 2024
Hours of polling: 9 am to 4 pm
Counting of votes: Tuesday, February 27, 5 pm
Date before which election shall be completed: Thursday, February 29
The number of members retiring from these states is:
As of April 2, 2024:
Andhra Pradesh- 3
Bihar- 6
Chhattisgarh- 1
Gujarat- 4
Haryana- 1
Himachal Pradesh- 1
Karnataka- 4
Madhya Pradesh- 5
Maharashtra- 6
Telangana- 3
Uttar Pradesh- 10
Uttarakhand- 1
West Bengal- 5
As of April 3:
Odisha- 3
Rajasthan- 3
The tenure of incumbents including former prime minister Manmohan Singh and BJP president J P Nadda will end in April. The vacancies also include seats held by nine Union ministers including Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
Others retiring in April include BJD members Prashanta Nanda and Amar Patnaik (Odisha), BJP chief spokesperson Anil Baluni (Uttarakhand) and Fisheries Minister Parshottam Rupala, and Congress members Naranbhai Rathwa and Amee Yagnik from Gujarat.
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan, MSME Minister Narayan Rane, former Union minister Prakash Javadekar, Congress member Kumar Ketkar, NCP member Vandana Chavan and Shiv Sena (UBT) member Anil Desai are retiring from Maharashtra.
For renomination to Rajya Sabha, BJP president J P Nadda will have to look for a seat outside his home state of Himachal Pradesh as the Congress is in power there.
The Congress can also look forward to sending its nominees to the Upper House of Parliament from Karnataka and Telangana -- the states where it came to power last year.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is likely to gain around six seats -- two each in Maharashtra, Bihar and Gujarat -- in the Rajya Sabha after the February 27 elections, with the JD(U) and the NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar having joined the ruling coalition.
The NDA's current strength in the Upper House of Parliament stands at 114, including 93 of the BJP. The Congress has 30 seats, the second highest.
Separately, four nominated members are retiring in July while two nominated seats are vacant. Among the nominated members retiring in July are Mahesh Jethmalani, Sonal Mansingh, Ram Shakal and Rakesh Sinha of the BJP.
(With PTI inputs)
