NEW DELHI: The biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha to fill 37 seats across 10 states are scheduled on Monday, with counting of votes set for the same day at 5 pm.
The term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected.
Out of these, 26 candidates have already secured victory unopposed. Voting will now take place for the remaining 11 seats, including five from Bihar, four from Odisha, and two from Haryana.
In key battlegrounds in Bihar, Haryana, and Odisha, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is working to defeat Opposition gains.
So far, 26 candidates have been elected unopposed, with the BJP securing seven, Congress five, the Trinamool Congress four, the DMK three, and Shiv Sena, RPI(A), NCP, NCP(SP), AIADMK, PMK, and UPPL one each. Notable names among the winners include Sharad Pawar, Abhishek Singhvi, Tiruchi Siva, and Vinod Tawade.
Haryana, Bihar and Odisha have emerged as key arenas of contest between the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition bloc for four important seats. A notable figure in these Rajya Sabha polls is Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.