None of the four candidates for elections to the three Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh withdrew their nominations on Friday, the last day for withdrawals, thereby making voting for these seats necessary.
Official sources said voting will be conducted from 0900 - 1600 hrs on June 11 and counting shall be taken up forthwith. Congress nominee Vivek Tankha and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates Anil Madhav Dave and MJ Akbar had filed their nominations for election to the Upper House.
BJP leader Vinod Gotiya jumped into the fray and filed his nomination as an independent candidate thereby making voting inevitable. The nomination of another independent candidate, Shashi Stella, was found invalid during scrutiny and rejected.
The time limit for withdrawing names was latest by 1500 hrs on Friday but none of the four candidates pulled out of the fray.
Of the State's 11 seats in the Upper House, eight are occupied by the BJP and the rest by the Congress. The tenures of members Dave, Chandan Mitra, both of the BJP, and Vijaylaxmi Sadho of the Congress are to conclude on June 29.
Polls are taking place for three seats to the House of the Elders. The poll notification was issued on May 24. The Assembly has 230 members, comprising 166 of the BJP, including the Speaker, 57 of the Congress, four of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), three independents and a nominated member of the Anglo-Indian community who has no right to vote.
While both the BJP and the Congress are eyeing support from the BSP and independent legislators, it is also a challenge for both the parties to keep their flock together.
As per the present strength of parties in the Vidhan Sabha, two seats would clearly go to the BJP while there is a contest for the third seat. Voting will take place on June 11.