Rajya Sabha election: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is also the president of the ruling BJD, on Monday, announced the names of former MLA Debashish Samantaray and party leader Subhasish Khuntia as its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
The seats are set to fall vacant in April when the terms of Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and BJD leaders Prasant Nanda and Amar Patnaik in the Rajya Sabha will end. However, the party has not made any announcement regarding the third seat yet.
Rajya Sabha elections
The Election Commission announced the date for 56 Rajya Sabha seats in 15 states. The elections will take place on February 27 and the votes will be counted on the same day. The term of office of 56 members are due to expire on their retirement in April 2024.
According to the Election Commission's letter, nominations will start from February 8. The last date for nomination for Rajya Sabha elections is February 15. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on February 16. The last date for withdrawal of nominations has been kept as February 20. Voting will take place on February 27 between 9 am and 4 pm and counting of votes will take place on the same day at 5 pm.
Number of seats on which elections will be held in the 15 states:
Andhra Pradesh: 3, Bihar: 6, Chhattisgarh: 1, Gujarat: 4, Haryana: 1, Himachal Pradesh: 1, Karnataka: 4, Madhya Pradesh: 5, Maharashtra: 6, Telangana: 3, Uttar Pradesh: 10, Uttarakhand: 1, West Bengal: 5, Odisha: 3, and Rajasthan: 3.
As of the current composition of the Rajya Sabha, there are 238 elected representatives. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds the highest number of seats with 93, followed by the Congress party with 30 seats. Other significant parties include the Trinamool Congress (TMC) with 13 seats, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with 10 seats, and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) with 10 seats, among others.
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