27 Rajya Sabha seats go to polls in eight states

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, June 11, 2016: Biennial elections for 27 Rajya Sabha seats in seven states are being held on Saturday.

Already, 30 candidates from eight states have been elected unopposed to the Upper House.

On Saturday, voting for the remaining 27 seats will be held in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.

While voting will be held in Uttar Pradesh for 11 seats, four seats each in Rajasthan and Karnataka, three in Madhya Pradesh, two each in Haryana and Jharkhand, and one in Uttarakhand will also go to vote.

Despite BJP’s efforts to win extra seats in these polls, the Congress will continue to remain the single-largest party in the 245-member Upper House.

The biennial elections were necessitated as 55 members from 15 states are retiring between June and August. One seat each from Rajasthan and Karnataka have also been vacated -- by Anand Sharma (Congress) and Vijay Mallya (Independent), respectively -- and will also go to polls.

Thirty candidates from various political parties were already declared elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from their eight respective states in the absence of more contenders.