The Election Commission has announced the dates for filling vacant seats in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal. The elections will take place on October 16.
According to the Election Commission of India's announcement made public on Tuesday, polls for a total of 12 Rajya Sabha seats in three states are scheduled for October 16. Ten seats are up for grabs in Uttar Pradesh, with nine of these seats becoming vacant due to the expiration of the terms of current Members of Parliament (MPs) on November 25.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri's term is among those ending.
One seat has been vacant since September 11 following the resignation of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dinesh Sharma to become the lieutenant governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In Uttarakhand, polls will be held for one seat, where the term of BJP MP Naresh Bansal will also conclude on November 25.
In West Bengal, a bye-election will be conducted for the seat vacated by Trinamool Congress MP Koel Mallick, who resigned in July. The votes for all these elections will be counted on October 16 itself.
Based on the composition of the Assembly, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to win eight of the 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party is expected to win the remaining two. With no MLAs in the state, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Mayawati, is not expected to retain its seat.
The BJP is also expected to retain the seat in Uttarakhand and gain one in West Bengal after winning the Assembly polls in May. In July, the Hindutva party’s tally in the 245-member Rajya Sabha reached 116 after three TMC MPs who had resigned were re-elected to the House unopposed on BJP tickets.
Source:
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