Elections to pending 18 Rajya Sabha seats on June 19: EC

The Election Commission, which had earlier deferred the elections scheduled for March 26, has decided to give its nod for filling the 18 seats.

Elections to fill 18 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha will be held on June 19, said a person aware of details.

A worker cleans the lawn at Parliament House, during the nationwide lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic, in New Delhi. (Mohd Zakir/HT PHOTO)

The Election Commission, which had earlier deferred the elections scheduled for March 26, has decided to give its nod for filling the 18 seats.

According to the person aware of details, polling will be conducted for filling four seats each in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three seats each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two seats in Jharkhand, and one seat each in Manipur and Meghalaya.

The counting of votes will be conducted on the same day.

The commission also decided that the chief secretaries will depute a senior officer from each of the states to ensure that extant instructions regarding Covid-19 containment measures are complied with while making arrangements for conducting the elections.

Earlier this year, 55 vacancies has arisen in the upper house of Parliament, and 37 members were elected unopposed. The oath-taking ceremony of these 37 is yet to take place.