The BJP released its first list of nine Rajya Sabha candidates on Tuesday. Party national president Nitin Naveen will represent Bihar. Shivesh Kumar is also included in the list. The BJP has nominated Laxmi Verma from Chhattisgarh. Terash Gowala and Jogen Mohan are from Assam, Sanjay Bhatia from Haryana, Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar from Odisha, and Rahul Sinha from West Bengal. Elections will be held on March 16 for 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states. Voting will take place between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. on March 16, and counting will begin at 5 p.m. the same day. These seats are becoming vacant due to the completion of the term of the current Rajya Sabha members. The term of the Rajya Sabha is six years. These elections are being held for the seats of members whose term expires in April 2026.
The elected members will serve six years from the date of their swearing-in, until 2032. These seats will be considered vacant in the respective states where the term of the current members is ending. Elections for 37 seats on March 16 The Election Commission had announced the dates for elections for 37 Rajya Sabha seats in 10 states on February 18. Elections for 37 seats are to be held on March 16. Of the seats that are falling vacant, 12 are with the NDA, 25 are held by the opposition. The maximum number of seats to be contested are 7 in Maharashtra, 6 in Tamil Nadu, and 5 each in West Bengal and Bihar. The tenure of Sharad Pawar, Ramdas Athawale, Kanimozhi, Tiruchi Siva, and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh ends on April 2. Voting will take place on March 16 between 9 am and 4 pm, and the votes will be counted at 5 pm the same day. Voting will be done with a special pen on the ballot paper. The Election Commission has said that while casting the vote, only a violet colored sketch pen of the prescribed standard, provided by the Returning Officer, will be used. Use of any other pen will not be valid. The Commission has stated that observers will be appointed to ensure peaceful and fair elections. The Election Commission has also launched an awareness campaign regarding EVMs and VVPAT in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. According to the Commission, over 1.20 lakh people participated in demo camps in five states and one union territory. Over 1.16 lakh people cast mock votes. As of February 10, over 29,000 polling station locations have been covered by mobile demo vans. This campaign is being conducted through EVM demo centers and mobile vans. This is how Rajya Sabha elections are conducted. The election process for Rajya Sabha MPs is quite different from other elections. Rajya Sabha members are indirectly elected, meaning they are elected by MLAs, not the public. Elections are held every two years because the Rajya Sabha is a permanent house and one-third of its members retire every two years. The total number of Rajya Sabha seats is 245. Of these, 233 seats are indirectly elected, and 12 members are nominated by the President. The number of votes required to win a Rajya Sabha election is predetermined. The number of votes is calculated based on the total number of MLAs and the number of Rajya Sabha seats. The value of one MLA’s vote is 100. Let’s understand the formula using the example of Maharashtra’s seven seats. To win a Rajya Sabha election, any candidate needs a certain number of votes, called the winning quota. There are 288 MLAs in the Maharashtra Assembly. The vacant seats are seven. Total number of MLAs x 100 / (Rajya Sabha seats + 1) = +1
288 x 100 / (7 + 1) = +1
28800 / 8 = +1
3600 = +1
3601
Since the value of one MLA’s vote is 100, at least 36 MLAs are required to win a Rajya Sabha seat in Maharashtra. Now understand the state equations… Bihar: Chirag Paswan will get his mother elected as an MP, Harivansh may be repeated. Two JDU leaders whose terms are ending include Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh and Union Minister Ramnath Thakur. Due to their high positions and close proximity to the Chief Minister, there is talk that they may be repeated. This will be a test for Chirag. Even during the assembly elections, media reports claimed that he was demanding a Rajya Sabha seat for his mother. Read the full story… Chhattisgarh: KTS Tulsi and Phulo Devi Netam’s terms are ending. The terms of KTS Tulsi and Phulo Devi Netam, Rajya Sabha MPs from Chhattisgarh, will end on April 2, 2026. KTS Tulsi is a senior Supreme Court lawyer and was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Chhattisgarh in 2020. Phulo Devi Netam is a tribal leader from the Bastar region. She has also served as the President of the Chhattisgarh Mahila Congress. She has been a strong voice on social and tribal issues. She was also elected as a Rajya Sabha MP in 2020. Read the full story… Haryana: Kiran Chaudhary-Ramchandra Jangra’s term ends The term of two BJP Rajya Sabha MPs, Kiran Chaudhary and Ramchandra Jangra, is till April 9. Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chandra Jangra became a Rajya Sabha MP in March 2020. He was elected unopposed. Kiran Chaudhary was elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha by-election on August 27, 2024. This seat fell vacant after Deepender Hooda’s resignation. Deepender had resigned after becoming the MP from Rohtak. This time, BJP and Congress may get one seat each. Read the full story…
———————— Read this news too… TMC announces 4 candidates for Rajya Sabha: Supreme Court lawyer Maneka Guruswamy’s name among them; if she wins, she will be the first LGBTQ MP Trinamool Congress announced the candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections on Friday evening. These include Minister Babul Supriyo, former Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar, senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, and actress Koyal Mallick. Read the full story…
