Guwahati: The Election Commission on Wednesday (February 18) announced that biennial elections to 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states, including Assam, which are set to fall vacant on various dates in April, will be conducted on March 16.
The States where seats are falling vacant are Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar.
In Assam, the term of three Rajya Sabha MPs — BJP’s Bhubaneswar Kalita and Rameswar Teli, and opposition-backed Ajit Kumar Bhuyan — will end on April 9, 2026.
The notification for the election will be issued on February 26, and March 5 is the last date for filing nominations.
As per established practice, polling on March 16 will be held between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. and votes will be counted from 5 p.m. the same day.
Only elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies are eligible to vote in Rajya Sabha elections. Legislators elect members to the Upper House for a six-year term, with one-third of the members retiring every two years. The Rajya Sabha is a permanent House and is not subject to dissolution.
Voting is conducted through the single transferable vote system, based on the principle of proportional representation.
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Candidates fielded by political parties have to be proposed by at least 10 members of the Assembly or 10% of the party’s strength in the House, whichever is less. For independents, there should be 10 proposers, all of whom should be members of the Assembly.
