Delhi, Sept. 22: The Election Commission has announced the schedule for elections to 12 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
The elections will cover 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh and one in Uttarakhand. A by-election will also be held for one West Bengal seat.
The notification will be issued on September 29. The last date for filing nominations is October 6.
The scrutiny of nominations will take place on October 7. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 9.
Polling will be held on October 16 from 9 am to 4 pm. Counting will begin at 5 pm on the same day.
The Election Commission has fixed October 19 as the deadline for completing the entire election process.
Rajya Sabha Elections to Follow Special Voting Rules
The West Bengal by-election has been necessitated by the resignation of Rukmini Mallik. The seat became vacant on July 16, 2026.
The terms of nine sitting members from Uttar Pradesh and one member from Uttarakhand are due to end on November 25.
The Uttar Pradesh members include BJP leaders Arun Singh, Geeta Shakya, Neeraj Shekhar, Brij Lal, BL Verma, Seema Dwivedi and Hardeep Singh Puri.
Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP leader Ramji Gautam are also among the members whose terms are ending.
One additional Uttar Pradesh seat became vacant after Dinesh Sharma resigned following his appointment as Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Meanwhile, the term of Uttarakhand BJP MP Naresh Bansal is also ending.
For voting, the Election Commission has directed members to use only the specified violet-coloured sketch pen supplied by the Returning Officer to mark preferences on the ballot paper. Other pens cannot be used for marking preferences.
The Rajya Sabha elects members through proportional representation using the single transferable vote system. Elected members of state legislative assemblies form the electoral college.
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