The Election Commission has announced Rajya Sabha election dates. Uttar Pradesh will vote for 10 seats on October 16. Additionally, Uttarakhand will vote for one Rajya Sabha seat on the same day. West Bengal will also hold voting for one vacant seat. The notification will come on September 29. Meanwhile, candidates can submit nominations until October 6.
Furthermore, officials will complete scrutiny on October 7. Candidates can withdraw nominations until October 9.
Therefore, voting and counting will happen together on October 16.
UP has 10 Rajya Sabha seats ending in November
The election covers 11 seats from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand combined. The tenure of 10 UP Rajya Sabha members ends on November 25. Currently, BJP holds eight seats among these 10 positions. Samajwadi Party holds one seat, while Bahujan Samaj Party holds one seat. Moreover, BJP members include former DGP Brijlal, Seema Dwivedi, Neeraj Shekhar, Geeta Shakya, Hardeep Singh Puri, Arun Singh, and BL Verma.
Dr. Dinesh Sharma’s term also ends on November 25. However, he resigned after becoming Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar.
Hence, one additional seat will also face voting. Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP’s Ramji Gautam will complete their terms.
Voting process and numbers in Uttar Pradesh
The Uttar Pradesh Assembly has 403 members. However, six members died during the past year. Therefore, 397 legislators will participate in voting for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats. According to the election formula, each Rajya Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh requires around 37 votes.
Meanwhile, BSP lost its only assembly member after Umashankar’s death. As a result, the party currently has no MLA in the legislature.
After the tenure of its only Rajya Sabha member ends, BSP will also have no representation in the upper house.
