EC ANNOUNCES POLLS FOR 24 RAJYA SABHA SEATS ON JUN 19
NEWDELHI: Elections to fill 24 seats in the Rajya Sabha — 18 older vacancies and six new ones — will be held on June 19, the election commission said on Monday.
Earlier this year, 55 vacancies had arisen in the Upper House, of which 37 were elected unopposed in March. Polls for 18 remaining seats were earlier scheduled for March 26, but had to be deferred due to the coronavirus pandemic. Of the 24 seats going to polls, the BJP is expected to bag two of the three seats in MP, one each in Rajasthan and Jharkhand, two in Karnataka, and one each in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. In Andhra Pradesh, YSRCP is expected to win all four.
OF THE 24 SEATS, 18 ARE OLDER VACANCIES. FOR THE SIX NEW SEATS, THE LAST DATE FOR NOMINATIONS IS JUNE 9, AND LAST DATE OF WITHDRAWAL IS JUNE 12
NEWDELHI: Elections to fill 24 seats in the Rajya Sabha — 18 older vacancies and six new ones — will be held on June 19, the Election Commission (EC) announced on Monday.
Earlier this year, 55 vacancies had arisen in the Upper House, of which 37 candidates were elected unopposed in March. Elections for 18 remaining seats were earlier scheduled for March 26, but had to be deferred after the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and the imposition of the national lockdown to curb its spread.
As per the EC’S revised schedule, polling will be conducted for four seats each from Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka; three seats each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan; two seats from Jharkhand; and one seat each from Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. For the six new seats, the last date for nominations is June 9, and last date of withdrawal is June 12. The current strength of the house is 224; of which the BJP has 75 members and the NDA’S tally is 88. Parties that are not part of the NDA, but are friendly to the BJP include YSRCP, AIADMK, BJD and TRS — these together have 27 MPS. The Congress has 39 MPS and the opposition block with regional parties has 69 MPS. There are three independents and one nominated member.
MDMK, PMK and Tamil Maanila Congress have a single member each. Of the 24 seats going to polls, the BJP is expected to bag 2 of the three seats in MP, one each in Rajasthan and Jharkhand, two in Karnataka, and one each in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. In Andhra Pradesh, YSRCP is expected to win all four.
The BJP is aiming to win both the seats from MP; it has named Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sumer Singh Solanki as candidates here. The Congress has nominated Digvijaya Singh and Phool Singh Baraiya. In Jharkhand, the BJP’S candidate is state unit president Deepak Prakash while the Congress has named Shahzada Anwar. In Gujarat, the BJP’S candidates are Ramilaben Bara and Abhay Bhardwaj and the Congress has named Shaktisinh Gohil and Bharatsinh Solanki.
From Rajasthan, the BJP has named its state vice-president Rajendra Gehlot as candidate, while the Congress contestants here are KC Venugopal and Neeraj Dangi. In Andhra Pradesh, the YSR Congress nominees are P Subhash Chandrabose, Mopidevi Venkataramana, Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy and Parimal Nathwani.
The 37 MPS elected unopposed have not yet been able to take oath. Though the Rajya Sabha secretariat had picked two sets of dates for the ceremony, several MPS have expressed their inability to travel. The dates for oath ceremony will now be announced afresh, said an official.
Gujarat-based political commentator Vidyut Joshi said, “all eyes will be on how the BJP manages to win three of the four Gujarat seats. The calculations favour two seats each to the Congress and the BJP; however since the BJP fielded Congress rebel Narhari Amin to woo the Patel votes, there will be a keen contest.”