Rajya Sabha Polls for 24 seats to be held on June 19 announces Election Commission

Update at 9:00 PM

Additionally, EC will also hold Rajya Sabha polls for six seats whose members are scheduled to retire in June and July, on June 19. The six seats are -  Arunachal (1) , Karnataka (4), Mizoram (1). The last day to file nomination is 9 June, 2020.

In a major decision, the Election Commission on Monday, announced that the polls for 18 Rajya Sabha seats which were deferred due to Coronavirus, will be held on June 19 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The counting of the votes will be done on the same day at 5:00 PM. The 18 seats belong to the states of  Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and Rajasthan.

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EC announces new Rajya Sabha poll dates

The 18 seats are split as such - Andhra Pradesh (4 seats), Gujarat (4 seats), Jharkhand (2 seats), Madhya Pradesh (3 seats), Manipur (1 seat), Meghalaya (1 seat) and Rajasthan (3 seats). The polls which were to be held on March 26 were the seats whose term was expiring on March 30. This year, 55 Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant by April 2020 - 37 of which has been elected unopposed already. 

Coronavirus outbreak forces Rajya Sabha polls to be deferred; ECI's statement here

Major poll battles

For Madhya Pradesh's 3 seats - both Congress and BJP have nominated two candidates each. While Congress-turned-BJP member Jyotiraditya Scindia and Congress vetaran Digvijaya Singh are expected to comfortably win, the tussle for one seat will be between BJP’s Sumer Singh Solanki and Congress' Phool Singh Baraiya.  On the other hand, the battle for Andhra Pradesh's 4 seats is set to be won by ruling YSRCP which enjoys an overwhelming majority of 151 seats in its 175 member state legislature.

A close contest will also be witnessed for the four seats from Gujarat. Both BJP and Congress have fielded five candidates each. With the resignation of 5 Congress MLAs, BJP holds 103 seats in its 182-member assembly over Congress' 68, plus the support of independent MLA Jignesh Mevani. While BJP is set to win 3 seats, Congress will have to settle for one seat. Polls for all other 2 or 3 seat states are reportedly set to be straightforward as per party strength.

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E-parliament soon?

Sources report that the Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu are currently in talks to hold virtual parliament sessions. The previous budget session of the two houses had to be curtailed with the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. Next monsoon session will begin by June 17, 2020. 

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