On 18th February, the Election Commission of India (ECI) released the schedule for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections to fill 37 seats that will fall vacant in April 2026. These seats belong to members from 10 states whose terms are coming to an end.
As per the schedule, the notification will be released on 26th February. The last date for filing nominations is 5th March. The scrutiny of nominations will take place on March 6. Candidates can withdraw their names until March 9.
If required, the polling will take place on 16th March from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, and the counting of votes will begin at 5:00 pm on the same day. The whole process will be completed before 20th March.
The Commission has said that only integrated violet colour sketch pens of a certain specification, provided by the Returning Officer, will be used to mark preferences on ballot papers. No other pen will be allowed. It also ensured that observers would be appointed to closely monitor the process to ensure free and fair elections.
The 37 seats are distributed in the states of Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana. Maharashtra has seven members whose term is to expire on 2nd April, 2026, including Dr Bhagwat Karad, Dr Fauzia Khan, Priyanka Chaturvedi and Sharadchandra Pawar.
Odisha has four members completing their term on the same date, while Tamil Nadu has six. West Bengal has five seats falling vacant on 2nd April, including one seat that has been vacant since 5th January.
Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana will witness the retirement of their members on 9th April. Bihar has five such members, while Assam has three, Chhattisgarh and Haryana have two members each, Himachal Pradesh has one, and Telangana has two members.
As the schedule is out now, the political activity is expected to increase in these states as parties prepare for the Rajya Sabha elections.
