The Election Commission of the country has announced elections for 37 Rajya Sabha seats in 10 states. These elections will be held on 16 March 2026. The states where elections will be held include Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. The tenure of the current MPs on these seats is ending in April 2026, hence elections are being held. The tenure of Rajya Sabha is 6 years, but every two years one-third of the members retire. For this reason Rajya Sabha is called the permanent house, because it is never dissolved.
Notification for Rajya Sabha elections was issued on 26 February. After this, the last date for nomination for the candidates has been fixed as March 5. The last date for withdrawal of nomination is March 9. After this, voting will be held on March 16 and counting of votes will start from 5 pm on the same day.
How are Rajya Sabha elections held?
Unlike the Lok Sabha elections, the public does not vote directly in the Rajya Sabha elections. The members of Rajya Sabha are elected by the MLAs (MLAs) of the states. This is an indirect election. There are a total of 245 members in the Rajya Sabha. Of these, 233 members are elected from states and union territories. 12 members are nominated by the President. During voting, MLAs vote on the basis of preference on the ballot paper i.e. candidates are given priority in the order of 1, 2, 3. This is called single transferable vote system.
Why elections are held only on 37 seats now?
A total of 73 Rajya Sabha seats are becoming vacant in the year 2026, but currently elections have been declared for only 37 seats because the tenure of these seats is ending in April 2026. Of these, 22 MPs will retire on 2nd April, 15 MPs will retire on 9th April. Elections for the remaining seats will be held later because 22 MPs will retire in June and the tenure of 11 MPs will end in November. Apart from this, the tenure of two other members will also end in 2026. These include former CJI Ranjan Gogoi on 16 March 2026 and Mizoram MP K. Vanlalvena’s tenure is ending on 19 July 2026. Along with this, one seat of Jharkhand is also vacant because this seat had become vacant after the death of former Chief Minister Shibu Soren.
Elections on how many seats in which states?
This time, elections for the maximum number of seats will be held in Maharashtra, where there are a total of 7 seats. Apart from this, there are Tamil Nadu (6 seats), West Bengal (5 seats), Bihar (5 seats), Odisha (4 seats), Assam (3 seats), Telangana (2 seats), Chhattisgarh (2 seats), Haryana (2 seats), Himachal Pradesh (1 seat).
What is the equation of which state of the country?
The 10 states of the country where Rajya Sabha elections are going to be held. Some equations related to them are as follows:
- Maharashtra: Elections will be held for 7 seats here. A candidate needs the support of 37 MLAs to win. According to the current numbers, the ruling alliance can win 6 seats. The contest on the seventh seat could be interesting.
- Tamil Nadu: There are 6 seats vacant here and support of 34 MLAs is necessary for victory. DMK alliance can win 4 seats and AIADMK alliance can win 2 seats.
- West Bengal: There are 5 seats here and support of 50 MLAs is required to win. In the current situation, TMC is likely to get 4 seats and BJP is likely to get 1 seat.
- Bihar: Elections will be held on 5 seats here and support of 41 MLAs is necessary for victory. According to the current equation, NDA is considered to have an upper hand on 4 seats and the remaining seats also.
- Odisha: Elections will be held for 4 seats here. Support of 30 MLAs is required for victory. In the current situation, BJP can win 2 seats and BJD can win 1 seat, while there can be a contest on the fourth seat.
- Assam: There are 3 seats vacant here and support of 32 MLAs is required for victory. According to the current equation, BJP can win 2 seats.
- Telangana: Elections will be held on 2 seats here and support of 41 MLAs is necessary for victory. Congress has 66 MLAs, so the contest could be between Congress and BRS.
- Chhattisgarh: There are 2 seats vacant here and support of 31 MLAs is required for victory. In the current situation, BJP and Congress are likely to get one seat each.
- Haryana: Elections will be held for 2 seats here also. It is believed that there will be a fight for one seat each between BJP and Congress.
- Himachal Pradesh: Only 1 seat is vacant here and support of 35 MLAs is required to win. Congress has majority, hence it is considered easy for it to win this seat.
BJP’s position
BJP has announced its candidates for Rajya Sabha elections 2026. In the states where seats are falling vacant, the party has fielded its leaders and sitting MLAs. This time 5 Rajya Sabha seats are falling vacant in Bihar. Here BJP has made party president Nitin Nabin and state leader Shivesh Kumar its candidates. The ruling NDA alliance in Bihar has strong numerical strength in the assembly, hence the chances of victory of these candidates are considered quite strong.
Know in which states BJP candidates are contesting
This time elections are to be held on three seats in Assam. BJP has fielded sitting MLA Tersh Gowala and cabinet minister Jogen Mohan as its candidates. State Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has clearly said that the party will not field a candidate on the third seat because there is no possibility of victory on that seat.
Two Rajya Sabha seats are falling vacant in Chhattisgarh. BJP has made State Women Commission member Lakshmi Verma its candidate here. A direct contest is being considered between BJP and Congress in the state politics.
Elections are to be held on two seats in Haryana also. BJP has made former MP Sanjay Bhatia its candidate here. BJP has strong numerical strength in the state, due to which their candidature is being considered strong.
Rajya Sabha elections are going to be held on four seats in Odisha. BJP has fielded state president Manmohan Samal and outgoing Rajya Sabha MP Sujit Kumar as its candidates. The contest between BJP and BJD in Odisha politics is likely to be interesting.
Elections are to be held for five Rajya Sabha seats in West Bengal. BJP has nominated former state president Rahul Sinha as its candidate here. However, due to Trinamool Congress having majority in the assembly, the contest is considered challenging.
What is the condition of Congress Party?
Congress Party has announced the names of 6 candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections. Party General Secretary K.C. Venugopal announced these names officially. The name of senior lawyer and senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi is also included in this list. Abhishek Manu Singhvi has been made the Rajya Sabha candidate from Telangana this time. Singhvi is a well-known constitutional lawyer of the country and has been a Rajya Sabha MP several times. Due to his expertise in legal and constitutional matters, he is considered an important face of Congress.
V.N. from Telangana. Narendra Reddy has also been made a candidate. He has been associated with Congress for a long time and has been playing an active role in the politics of the state. Due to the presence of Congress government in Telangana, the chances of victory of these two candidates are considered strong. Apart from this, Congress has made Phulo Devi Netam the Rajya Sabha candidate from Chhattisgarh. Karamveer Singh Boudh has been given ticket from Haryana. The party has also declared Anurag Sharma from Himachal Pradesh and M. Christopher Tilak from Tamil Nadu as candidates for Rajya Sabha.
