Election for 59 RS seats on March 23
NEWDELHI: Elections for 59 Rajya Sabha seats that will fall vacant from 16 states will be held on March 23, the Election Commission announced on Friday.
The Bjp-led NDA is likely to gain 10 more seats, taking its tally to 86 in the 245-member Upper House, but will remain short of the halfway mark of 123.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley, among other senior political figures, is set to be re-elected, while cricketer Sachin Tendulkar will retire.
The maximum number of seats (10) will be vacant in Uttar Pradesh, including the one vacated by Bahuja Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati who resigned from her seat.
Elections will be held in six seats in Bihar and Maharashtra and in one seat in Kerala, which fell vacant after the resignation of MP Veerendra Kumar.
The ruling BJP, which currently has 58 members in the Upper House, is set to gain from the latest round of biennial polls. The party’s victory in Uttar Pradesh coupled with strong presence in Maharashtra and Rajasthan are expected to add to its existing numbers in the Upper House, giving it more voice to pass crucial bills.
The NDA is, however, likely to achieve a majority only in 2019. Still, with the help of parties that have traditionally supported it, such as the AIADMK and the BJD, the NDA could come close to the halfway mark.
As many as eight ministers including Jaitley, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar and health minister JP Nadda will be seeking a fresh term in the Upper House. BJP managers maintained that all these leaders will get a new term.
Nominated members , cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, actor Rekha and industrialist Anu Agha will also retire. In these seats, the Bjp-led NDA will be able to nominate people of its choice. Nominated members can Union finance minister
human resource development minister
minister of petroleum & natural gas and skill development
Union health minister telecom minister
social justice and empowerment minister
Union minister of state for panchayati raj, agriculture and farmers' welfare
Union minister for road transport & highways, shipping and chemical & fertilisers
Uttar Pradesh
Jharkhand Maharashtra, Bihar Gujarat, Karnataka
West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh
Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan
Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Kerala
vote on all bills and resolutions but not in the Presidential election.
The 59 seats, elections for which have to be completed by March 26, will be vacated between April and May.
A gain in the Rajya Sabha will be a big boost for the government, which has often been embarrassed by the Congressled opposition that has frequently stalled and delayed legislation. NEW DELHI: The Centre informed the Supreme Court on Friday that a meeting to discuss the appointment of Lokpal, an anti-corruption authority, would take place on March 1 and that the leader of the largest Opposition party in Lok Sabha, the Congress, has been invited to participate in the deliberations.
Attorney general KK Venugopal said the meeting, to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will also be attended by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. The submission was made before Justice Ranjan Gogoi’s bench when a petition to initiate contempt against the Centre for not setting up this body came up for hearing.
In its plea, NGO Common Cause claimed the government has not abided by last year’s April 22 judgment of the apex court that ordered immediate implementation of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Acts to appoint an anti-corruption ombudsman for hearing graft cases against lawmakers and central government officials.
The statutory post of Lokpal has been vacant since the law was enacted in 2013.
Venugopal said the committee is also likely to appoint an eminent jurist in the selection panel since the post fell vacant after the death of senior advocate PP Rao. The bench adjourned the hearing and directed secretary of Department of Personnel and Training to file an affidavit by March 5.