The Election Commission on Wednesday announced that elections for 37 Rajya Sabha seats will be held on March 16, ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the state. Voting will take place from 9 AM to 4 PM, and counting will begin after 5 PM on the same day.
According to the Commission’s notification, the last date for filing nominations is March 5, while candidates may withdraw their nominations until March 9.
Five seats in West Bengal among those falling vacant
A total of 37 Rajya Sabha seats will fall vacant in April this year. Among them are five seats from West Bengal. However, one of these seats has been vacant since January following the resignation of Mausam Benzir Noor.
The Rajya Sabha members from West Bengal whose terms are ending include Trinamool Congress leaders Saket Gokhale, Ritabrata Bandyopadhyay and Subrata Bakshi, as well as Left Front leader Bikashranjan Bhattacharya.
To secure victory in the Rajya Sabha election, a candidate will require the support of 50 MLAs. The Trinamool Congress, with more than 200 MLAs in the Assembly, is in a position to field candidates for four seats. The BJP, which currently has 65 MLAs, is expected to secure one seat. However, no party has announced its candidates yet. The Left is unlikely to retain representation in the Rajya Sabha this time, as it does not have any MLAs in the Assembly.
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Seats across other states
Apart from West Bengal, elections will be held for seven seats in Maharashtra, five in Bihar, four in Odisha, six in Tamil Nadu, three in Assam, two in Chhattisgarh, two in Haryana, two in Telangana, and one in Himachal Pradesh.
