Rajya Sabha polls for 12 seats in UP, Uttarakhand, Bengal on October 16; MLC polls for 28 seats on October 23

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the schedule for biennial elections and a bye-election to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal, alongside biennial elections to the Legislative Councils of Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh from Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies.

According to an official notification issued by the ECI, biennial elections will be conducted for 11 Rajya Sabha seats, comprising 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand, which will fall vacant in November upon the retirement of sitting members. Simultaneously, a by-election will be held for a single casual vacancy in the Upper House from West Bengal, which arose following the resignation of TMC MP Rukmini Mallik.

The official notification for the Rajya Sabha polls will be issued on September 29, and the last date for filing nominations has been fixed for October 6. Scrutiny of papers will take place on October 7, followed by October 9 as the final date for the withdrawal of candidatures. Polling is scheduled for October 16 between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM, with the counting of votes set to take place on the same day at 5:00 PM.

The retiring Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh include Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Arun Singh, Brijlal, BL Verma, Ram Gopal Yadav, Neerja Shekhar, Geeta Alias Chandraprabha, Ramji, Seema, and Dr. Dinesh Sharma. Naresh Bansal is the lone retiring member from Uttarakhand.

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To ensure voting integrity, the Commission has directed that only integrated violet colour sketch pens of pre-fixed specifications provided by Returning Officers shall be used to mark preferences on ballot papers.

In a separate order, the ECI also announced biennial elections for 28 Legislative Council seats across four states ahead of the impending retirement of members. These include:

• Uttar Pradesh: 11 seats (5 Graduates’ and 6 Teachers’ constituencies)
• Bihar: 8 seats (4 Graduates’ and 4 Teachers’ constituencies)
• Maharashtra: 5 seats (3 Graduates’ and 2 Teachers’ constituencies)
• Karnataka: 4 seats (2 Graduates’ and 2 Teachers’ constituencies)

For the Legislative Council elections, the notification will similarly be issued on September 29, with October 6 fixed as the last date for filing nominations. Nominations will undergo scrutiny on October 7, and candidates may withdraw their candidatures until October 9. Polling across all 28 council seats will be held on October 23 between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM, followed by the counting of votes on October 27.

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The ECI added that the Model Code of Conduct comes into force with immediate effect in all concerned Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies across the four states.