New Delhi, Sep 22 — The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the biennial elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats, along with a by-election for one seat from West Bengal, on October 16.
Of the 11 seats going to the polls in the biennial elections, 10 are from Uttar Pradesh, and one is from Uttarakhand. The West Bengal election will be held to fill a casual vacancy in the Upper House.
According to the schedule announced by the Election Commission, the notification for the elections will be issued on September 29, while the last date for filing nominations will be October 6.
The scrutiny of nominations will be conducted on October 7, followed by the last date for withdrawal of candidature on October 9.
Polling for the Rajya Sabha seats will be held on October 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., while counting of votes will begin at 5 p.m. on the same day.
In Uttar Pradesh, the terms of 10 sitting Rajya Sabha members are coming to an end. The members whose terms are expiring include Arun Singh, Geeta alias Chandraprabha, Brij Lal, Ram Gopal Yadav, Ramji Gautam, B.L. Verma, Seema Dwivedi, Dinesh Sharma and Hardeep Singh Puri.
In Uttarakhand, the by-election is necessitated by the completion of the term of sitting Rajya Sabha member Naresh Bansal.
The West Bengal seat is being filled through a by-election following the resignation of Rukmini Mallick from the Rajya Sabha. Mallick's resignation was the fourth such resignation by a Trinamool Congress MP since the Mamata Banerjee-led party was ousted from power in West Bengal.
The October 16 elections will therefore cover both scheduled retirements and a casual vacancy in the Upper House. The ECI has laid out the complete election process from notification and nomination to polling and counting.