ECI sets October 16 RS polls, Legislative Council elections for October 23
New Delhi, Sep 22 (UNI) The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the schedule for biennial elections to 11 Rajya Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and a bye-election for a vacant seat from West Bengal, with polling for all 12 Council of States seats scheduled for October 16.
The Commission also announced elections to 28 seats in the Legislative Councils of Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh from Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies, with polling scheduled for October 23. For the Rajya Sabha elections, notifications will be issued on September 29, while October 6 will be the last date for filing nominations. Scrutiny of nominations will be held on October 7 and candidates can withdraw their candidature until October 9. Polling will be held on October 16 from 9 am to 4 pm, followed by counting from 5 pm the same day.
The Commission has fixed October 19 as the deadline for completing the entire electoral process. The 11 biennial vacancies comprise 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand. The terms of Arun Singh, Geeta alias Chandraprabha, Neerja Shekhar, Brijlal, Prof Ram Gopal Yadav, Ramji, B L Verma, Seema, Dr Dinesh Sharma and Hardeep Singh Puri from Uttar Pradesh, and Naresh Bansal from Uttarakhand, are due to expire on November 25.
The Commission's list also includes the Uttar Pradesh seat held by Dr Dinesh Sharma, which became vacant with effect from September 11 following his resignation. Alongside the biennial elections, the ECI will hold a bye-election to a Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal that fell vacant after Rukmini Mallik resigned on July 16. The seat carries a term up to April 2, 2032, and the bye-election will be conducted on October 16 under the same schedule.
The Rajya Sabha elections will be conducted through the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, under which elected members of the respective state Legislative Assemblies vote to elect members of the Upper House. The ECI has issued specific instructions regarding the marking of preferences on the ballot paper. It said only the integrated violet-colour sketch pen of the pre-fixed specification supplied by the Returning Officer shall be used. "No other pen shall be used for marking preferences" in these elections, the Commission said. The Commission has also directed that observers be appointed to ensure close monitoring of the electoral process and to facilitate free and fair elections.
In a separate press note, the ECI announced biennial elections to 28 seats in the Legislative Councils of Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh from Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies. Of the 28 seats, eight are in Bihar, four in Karnataka, five in Maharashtra and 11 in Uttar Pradesh. The vacancies have arisen as the terms of the sitting members are due to expire. Bihar will elect members from four Graduates' constituencies - Patna, Darbhanga, Tirhut and Kosi - and four Teachers' constituencies - Patna, Darbhanga, Tirhut and Saran.
The retiring members are Neeraj Kumar, Sarvesh Kumar, Bansi Dhar Brajwasi, Dr N K Yadav, Naval Kishore Yadav, Dr Madan Mohan Jha, Sanjay Kumar Singh and Afaque Ahmad. Their terms end on November 16. Karnataka will have elections to two Graduates' and two Teachers' constituencies. The terms of Chidanand M Gowda, S V Sankanur, Shashil G Namoshi and Sri Puttanna expire on November 11. Maharashtra will elect members from three Graduates' and two Teachers' constituencies.
The retiring members are Chavan Satish Bhanudasrao, Arun Ganpati Lad, Abhijit Govindrao Wanjarri, Sarnaik Kiran Ramrao and Jayant Dinkar Aasgavkar, whose terms end on December 6. Uttar Pradesh accounts for the largest number of vacancies, with elections to 11 seats - five Graduates' and six Teachers' constituencies. The retiring members are Er Awanish Kumar Singh, Ashutosh Sinha, Dr Manvendra Pratap Singh 'Guru Ji', Dinesh Kumar Goel, Dr Man Singh Yadav, Umesh Dwivedi, Lal Biharee Yadaw, Dr Aakash Agrawal, Shrichand Sharma, Hari Singh Dhillo and Dhruv Kumar Tripathi. Their terms expire on December 6. The schedule for the Legislative Council elections begins with the issue of notifications on September 29.
Nominations can be filed until October 6, scrutiny will be held on October 7 and the last date for withdrawal is October 9. Polling will take place on October 23 from 8 am to 4 pm. Counting of votes will be held on October 27, with the Commission directing that the entire electoral process be completed by October 31. The Model Code of Conduct for the Legislative Council elections has come into force with immediate effect in the concerned constituencies, the ECI said. The two announcements together set in motion the electoral process for 40 seats across the Rajya Sabha and four state Legislative Councils.
The Rajya Sabha exercise covers the scheduled biennial vacancies in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand as well as the West Bengal casual vacancy, while the Legislative Council polls will renew representation from the Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies in Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. With the notifications due on September 29, the electoral process will move into the nomination phase next week, followed by scrutiny and withdrawal before the two rounds of polling on October 16 and October 23 respectively.
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