The Election Commission on Monday announced biennial poll schedule for 55 Rajya Sabha seats from 16 States. The poll will be held on February 7 and the notification will be issued on January 21.
The last date for filing nomination for the poll, to fill up the vacancies, which will arise between April 2 and 12, is January 28. On January 29 the papers will be scrutinised.
The last date for withdrawal of candidature is January 31 and the poll will be held on February 7 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The votes will be counted the same day at 5 p.m.
Union Ministers G.K. Vasan, former Chief Minister of Manipur Rishang Keishing, former Union Ministers Murli S. Deora, Jayanthi Natarajan, T. Subbarami Reddy, C.P. Thakur and Premchand Gupta, BJP leaders Prakash Javedkar and Balbir Punj, Congress leaders Motilal Vora, Shanta Kumar, and K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, and N.T. Rama Rao’s son Nandamuri Harikrishna (TDP) are among the RS members whose term will expire in April.
Maharashtra tops the list with the poll to be held for seven seats. It is followed by Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh — six each, West Bengal and Bihar — five each, Odisha and Gujarat — four each, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — three each, Haryana, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand — two each and Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya — one each.
