Rajya Sabha election 2022: 13 seats from 6 seats to go for polls on March 31

By Team Newsable | First Published Mar 29, 2022, 1:33 PM IST

With 4 out of 5 recent state polls favouring the BJP, the saffron party hopes to gain a majority in the Upper House in the next year, when the Rajya Sabha elections are held in March and June. On March 31, elections will be held in 13 states: Assam (2), Himachal (1), Kerala (3), Nagaland (1), Tripura (1), and Punjab (5).

Assam: In the north-eastern state of Assam, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has pledged that the NDA will win both seats, with the BJP nominating Pabitra Margherita and its partner UPPL United People's Party - Liberal (UPPL) supporting Rwngwra Narzary. Ripun Bora, on the other side, has been named as Congress's candidate. Ranee Narah and Ripun Bora's Rajya Sabha seats will become vacant on April 2.
Kerala: With three Rajya Sabha seats up for grabs, the Congress has nominated its women's wing president Jebi Mather, while the ruling LDF has nominated CPI(M) state committee member A A Rahim and CPI politician P Santhosh Kumar. A K Antony, M V Shreyams Kumar, and Somaprasad K are the three Kerala MPs whose tenure are slated to expire next month. Because the LDF has 99 seats in the 140-person Assembly, it is expected that it will gain both seats, while Congress will retain its lone seat.
Tripura: The BJP has nominated its state president Dr Manik Saha for the state's lone Rajya Sabha seat, while the Left Front has named senior CPI(M) veteran Bhanu Lal Saha. The BJP is expected to win the lone Rajya Sabha seat despite having 40 of 60 seats in its possession. Jharna Das Baidya, the current Member of Parliament, will step down on April 2.
Punjab: AAP nominated its Punjab in-charge Raghav Chadha, IIT Delhi Professor Sandeep Pathak, Lovely Professional University Chancellor Ashok Mittal, former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, and Ludhiana-based businessman Sanjeev Arora as its five Rajya Sabha nominees, buoyed by its thumping victory in the Punjab elections, where it won 92 of the 117 seats. All five were elected without opposition, bringing the AAP's Rajya Sabha strength to 10 - 7.
Himachal Pradesh: With 43 seats in the 68-seat Himachal Assembly, the BJP's Rajya Sabha nominee - former Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) vice-chancellor Prof Sikander Kumar - was elected unchallenged because the Congress did not file a candidate.
Nagaland: Nagaland is India's lone opposition-free state. elected S Phangnon Konyak was elected unopposed, becoming the state's first female legislator in the Upper House. Konyak, the state BJP women's branch president, was the sole candidate running in the election. The current lone Nagaland MP, KG Kenye of the Naga People's Front, will step down on April 2.

Also Read | AAP to nominate Harbhajan Singh, Raghav Chadha as its Rajya Sabha candidates from Punjab

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