Rajya Sabha chambers.
Credit: Special Arrangement
New Delhi: The polling to fill 56 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha will be held on February 27, the Election Commission stated in New Delhi on Monday.
The Rajya Sabha seats will fall vacant on April 2 and 3 due to the retirement of the incumbent members, including four elected from Karnataka.
The vacancies also include seats held by nine Union ministers including Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav and Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
The EC will issue the notification for the elections to fill up the vacancies on February 8. It has set February 15 as the last date for filing nomination and February 20 as the last date for withdrawal of nomination. The polling will be conducted from 9 am to 4 pm on February 27.
The incumbent Rajya Sabha MPs, who will retire on April 2, included 10 from Uttar Pradesh, six from Bihar and Maharashtra, five each from Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, four each from Karnataka and Gujarat, three each from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and one each from Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.
Besides, three RS MPs each from Odisha and Rajasthan will also retire on April 3.
The votes will be counted after completion of voting at 5 p.m. on February 27, the EC stated.
With DHNS and PTI inputs