The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the biennial elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats, along with a by-election for one seat from West Bengal, on October 16.

NEW DELHI: Election Commission on Tuesday announced elections to 12 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal on October 16.The polls will cover 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, one in Uttarakhand and a bypoll to one seat in West Bengal. The notification will be issued on September 29, nominations can be filed until October 6 and counting will take place on October 16, the poll panel said.In Uttar Pradesh, the members retiring include BJP leaders Arun Singh, Geeta Shakya, Neeraj Shekhar, Brijlal, BL Verma, Seema Dwivedi and Hardeep Singh Puri, Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP’s Ramji Gautam.The seat held by former Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma has been vacant since September 11, when his resignation took effect following his appointment as lieutenant governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.In Uttarakhand, BJP member Naresh Bansal’s term is also ending.Of the 10 outgoing Uttar Pradesh seats, eight are held by BJP, while the Samajwadi Party and BSP hold one each. Based on the current assembly arithmetic, BJP-led alliance is expected to win eight seats, while the Samajwadi Party could secure two.

The outcome could leave BSP without representation in the Rajya Sabha as it does not have the numbers to retain Gautam’s seat on its own.BSP currently has no MLA in Uttar Pradesh following the death of its lone legislator, Uma Shankar Singh, in August. The party also did not have the numbers to elect a Rajya Sabha member on its own in 2020. However, BJP had fielded only eight candidates for the 10 seats then, allowing BSP’s Ramji Gautam to win.BJP is also comfortably placed to retain the Uttarakhand seat.The West Bengal bypoll was necessitated by the resignation of Rukmini Mallik, popularly known as actor Koel Mallick, on July 16. The winner will serve the remainder of the term until April 2, 2032.With a clear majority in the West Bengal Assembly, the ruling BJP is set to wrest the seat from the Trinamool Congress.