The Election Commission (EC) on Monday announced that the elections to 13 Rajya Sabha seats will be held on March 31. These seats are spread across six States — five in Punjab, three in Kerala, two in Assam, and one each in Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Nagaland.
The names of retiring members are Anand Sharma from Himachal Pradesh, A. K. Antony, M. V. Shreyams Kumar and Somaprasad K from Kerala, K. G. Kenye from Nagaland, Jharna Das (Baidya) from Tripura, Ranee Narah and Ripun Bora from Assam, Sukhdev Singh, Partap Singh Bajwa, Shwait Malik, Naresh Gujral and Shamsher Singh Dullo from Punjab.
While members from Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Nagaland and Tripura are retiring on April 2, five members from Punjab are retiring on April 9.
"Out of the five seats to be filled from Punjab, three are to be filled by holding one election and other two through another election as these seats belong to two different biennial cycles," the EC said in a statement. The notification for the biennial elections will be issued on March 14 and the polls will be held on March 31.
As per established practice, the counting will be held on the day of polling from 5 pm onwards.
The Rajya Sabha nominations from Punjab will depend on the performance of parties in the state in the February 20 assembly polls.There has been no vacancy in the past five years during the Congress government in the state.
While five seats are falling vacant in Punjab, three are falling vacant in Kerala, two in Assam and one each in HP, Nagaland and Tripura.
The EC has directed the chief secretaries of the five states depute a senior officer to ensure that the instructions regarding coronavirus disease (Covid-19) containment measures are complied with while making arrangements for conducting the elections.