Rajya Sabha Election 2022: Voting underway; all eyes on Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana & Rajasthan
In Maharashtra, Rajya Sabha elections are being held for the first time in two decades, and the ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress, and Sharad Pawar's NCP is in a bind after its arrested MLAs were denied bail to vote.
FollowElections for the upper chamber of the Rajya Sabha are underway to fill 16 vacant seats on Friday, June 10, 2022. Unopposed, 41 candidates were elected. In light of the upcoming presidential elections in July, the Rajya Sabha poll will be critical.
Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) are eligible to vote in this election. The voting, which began at 9 am, will continue until 4 pm, and the votes will be counted at 5 pm, following the polling hours.
In Karnataka, voting began in the Rajya Sabha polls for four seats, as the outcome of the fourth seat remains uncertain, despite the fact that none of the three political parties has enough votes to win it.
Updates:
1) In Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Haryana, elections are scheduled for 16 seats.
2) The 57 open seats were distributed across 15 states. The BJP held 23 seats, while the Congress had eight. The rest was divided among the other parties.
3) The most difficult races are expected in opposition-ruled states like Rajasthan and Maharashtra, where both parties have confined their legislators to resorts to prevent poaching.
4) Uttar Pradesh has the most seats, with 11. It is followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, both of which have six seats.
5) Five seats were vacant in Bihar, four in Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh, and three in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.
6) Additionally, two seats each from Punjab, Jharkhand, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana, and one from Uttarakhand, are vacant.
7) Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, Congress's Randeep Surjewala, Jairam Ramesh, Mukul Wasnik, and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut are among those standing for election.
8) In Maharashtra, Rajya Sabha elections are being held for the first time in two decades, and the ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress, and Sharad Pawar's NCP is in a bind after its arrested MLAs were denied bail to vote.
9) The BJP has passed the 100-member threshold in the upper house, becoming the first party to do so since 1990. Nonetheless, the elections are expected to help it shore up its numbers in advance of the Presidential elections.
10) Jammu and Kashmir have been under President's Rule since 2017 when the last Presidential elections were held. The opposition controls three other states, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu.
(With inputs from PTI)
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