Rajya Sabha elections 2026 highlights: NDA wins 8 of 11 seats in three states, BJD gets one; Haryana on hold

• The NDA swept the elections in Bihar, winning all five seats in the state. Bihar's longest-serving chief minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar, and BJP president Nitin Nabin were both elected from the state.

• Besides Nitish and Nabin, the other winning candidates in Bihar include union minister Ram Nath Thakur (JDU) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha – both sitting members who were re-elected. BJP's Shivesh Kumar also secured victory, and will enter the Rajya Sabha for the first time.

• The BJP won three seats in Odisha, including Independent candidate Dilip Ray who was backed by the party. The other elected members from BJP are its Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar.

• The BJD secured one seat in Odisha, with winning nominee Santrupt Misra. At least five MLAs, three from Congress and two from BJD, allegedly cross-voted in favour of BJP in the state.

• In Haryana, counting of votes was put on hold after BJP and Congress filed complaints against each other alleging violation of vote secrecy.

Rajya Sabha Elections 2026 LIVE: Couting for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana has been put on hold amid allegations of irregularities, PTI news agency reported.

Both BJP and Congress members in the state filed complaints alleging violation of vote secrecy, with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge also writing to the Election Commission claiming “interference” attempt.

Rajya Sabha Elections 2026 LIVE: NDA swept the Rajya Sabha elections in Bihar, with JD(U) chief and the state's longest-serving chief minister Nitish Kumar and new BJP president Nitin Nabin being elected.

Of the total 37 vacancies of Rajya Sabha, elections were held on Monday for only 11 seats in Bihar, Odisha and Haryana as the rest of the members were earlier elected unopposed.

Rajya Sabha Elections 2026 LIVE: The ruling BJP on Monday won two of the four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha. The Opposition BJD and the Independent candidate backed by BJP secured one seat each, PTI reported.

BJP's Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal and the party's MP Sujeet Kumar secured 35 votes each to win the elections. BJD's official candidate Santrupt Misra also won by securing 31 votes. BJP-backed Independent candidate and former union minister Dilip Ray won the fourth seat through second preference votes.

Rajya Sabha Elections 2026 LIVE: Odisha minister Rabi Narayan Naik told ANI news agency that the two BJP Rajya Sabha nominees in the state – Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar – had won. He further said that the Independent candidate backed by the party, Dilip Ray, had also registered victory.

“The counting has concluded, and all three BJP-backed candidates, Manmohan Samal, Sujeet Kumar and Dilip Ray have won...” Naik said.

Rajya Sabha Elections 2026 LIVE: Odisha chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday congratulated the BJP's Rajya Sabha poll nominees as well as the Independent candidate backed by the party for “winning” the elections.

“Heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to the party's state president Shri @SamalManmohan7 Ji, who emerged victorious as a candidate on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections, the party's senior leader Shri @SujeetKOfficial Ji, and the party-supported independent candidate Shri @DilipRayOdisha Ji,” the Odisha CM said in a post on X.

Results of the polls are yet to be announced officially. BJP Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal and the party's sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar were the official candidates, while the party had backed former union minister Dilip Ray.

Rajya Sabha Elections 2026 LIVE: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday claimed that there had been an “attempt at interference” with the Rajya Sabha election in Haryana.

“There is a clear attempt to interfere with the integrity of the election and it must be stopped/ redressed by the ECI immediately,” said Kharge in a letter to the poll body. “Furthermore, no disqualification of our legitimate voters/ votes cast can be allowed in what is clearly a transparent attempt to taint/ derail the process,” the letter further stated.

Kharge has sought time with the ECI, asking the poll body to meet a delegation led by Abhishek Manu Singhvi and other senior Congress leaders.

Rajya Sabha Elections 2026 LIVE: Voting for two Haryana Rajya Sabha seats was halted on Monday. This was after BJP's Gaurav Gautam and Kishan Bedi objected to two Congress votes, while Congress too objected to minister Anil Vij's vote, ANI news agency reported.

The counting was halted for over an hour.

Rajya Sabha Elections 2026 LIVE: Following BJD chief Naveen Patnaik's allegations of cross-voting, Odisha minister Sampad Chandra Swain said it was “not illegal” to issue a new ballot paper.

“It is in the rules and not illegal. If a member goes to cast a vote, and there seems to be an issue in the ballot, the Presiding Officer can check and issue a new one…” Swain told ANI news agency.

Rajya Sabha Elections 2026 LIVE: Even as the NDA is eyeing a sweep in Bihar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav hs claimed that his party's candidate has received more votes than the BJP candidate.

“As far as our candidate is concerned, we received 37 votes, while Shivesh, the BJP's fifth candidate, received only 30 votes, and recounting is underway,” Yadav told ANI news agency.

"We want the counting process to be fair, not under any pressure. Shivesh Ram gets 30 votes, and we get 37, then we are winning this election... If the ruling party is getting it recounted, it means they've lost and are trying to force a victory. Dishonesty is the BJP's job..." he further said.

Rajya Sabha Elections 2026 LIVE: The voting for the four Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha ended at 6 pm Monday. At least five MLAs of the opposition BJD and Congress reportedly voted in favour of BJP-supported Independent nominee Dilip Ray.

The polling for the Rajya Sabha polls was held in the state after a gap of 12 years. Five candidates are in the fray for four seats, which will fall vacant on April 2.

Rajya Sabha Elections 2026 LIVE: The NDA on Monday seemed poised for an easy victory in Bihar in the biennial polls to five Rajya Sabha seats in the state.

While counting of votes is expected to conclude later today, sources in the alliance claimed “all 202 MLAs” had taken part in the voting. This comes even as three MLAs of the Congress and one of the RJD remaining absent from polling.

Rajya Sabha LIVE Updates: The ruling NDA in Bihar looks set for a clean sweep in the elections to five Rajya Sabha seats.

As per a PTI report, sources in the NDA claimed that all 202 MLAs belonging to the alliance had cast their votes.

These include legislators from Kumar’s JD(U), the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) led by Union minister Chirag Paswan, the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi, and the Rashtriya Lok Morcha led by Upendra Kushwaha, who is also among the five candidates.

Rajya Sabha Elections LIVE: Some congress MLAs and 1 RJD MLA were absent from voting for the five Bihar seats in the Rajya Sabha, say reports. This has reportedly helped NDA secure the fifth seat in Bihar as well. The results for all the 37 seats will be out as the counting is currently taking place.

Rajya Sabha Polling LIVE: Voting is done for the 2 seats in Haryana ended at 4 pm.

While the INLD, which has two legislators, abstained from voting, the Congress MLAs, who were shifted to Himachal returned shortly after the polling began at 9 am and cast their votes.

In the fray are BJP candidate Sanjay Bhatia, Congress's Karamvir Singh Boudh and Independent candidate Satish Nandal.

PTI reports that at least 5 MLAs from of the opposition BJD and Congress on Monday have reportedly voted for an independent nominee Dilip Ray and he is backed by BJP.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das told reporters that three of its MLAs - Ramesh Jena, Dasarathi Gomango and Sofia Firdous - have "voted in favour of the BJP".

Rajya Sabha Elections LIVE Updates: Absence of three Congress MLAs and one RJD MLA likely to ensure victory of NDA candidates for Rajya Sabha from Bihar. Many NDA leaders, across BJP and JDU, have already stated that they are set for a clean sweep in the elections.

Rajya Sabha elections live: The Upper House bid farewell to former CJI Ranjan Gogoi who retired today after completing his six-year term in office.

Chairman CP Radhakrishnan said as a distinguished jurist, Gogoi brought unparalleled legal acumen and experience to the deliberations of the House.

"His intervention in the Rajya Sabha reflected deep understanding of legislative process and public interest," he said.

Rajya Sabha elections live: Naveen Patnaik, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly (LoP), slammed the voting process in the ongoing Rajya Sabha elections, claiming that election norms were violated after a legislator was issued a second ballot paper.

Speaking to ANI, Patnaik said that polling officer went against the rule when a MLA from the Brahmagiri Assembly constituency made an error while casting her vote and was provided with second ballot paper.

"The MLA of Brahmagiri had made a clear mistake while voting. But the officer sitting in the voting room who is in charge of this has illegally accepted her vote and has issued a second ballot paper. This is totally against the democratic norms and a violation of election rules," Patnaik said.

Rajya Sabha elections 2026 LIVE: Congress MLA Vinesh Phogat has expressed confidence on the Rajya Sabha elections. “We are confident. All our MLAs are united...Our confidence is due to the party and our MLAs,” she told reporters.

Rajya Sabha elections live:Polling for the 4 Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha was halted for about 30 minutes, reported PTI, over a dispute on the issuance of a second ballot paper to a BJP MLA.

The opposition BJD agent objected to the issuance of a second ballot paper to BJP MLA Upasana Mohapatra.

She sought another ballot paper for overwriting on the one, issued in her name earlier. Later, Mohapatra was allowed to cast her vote.

BJD president Naveen Patnaik strongly objected to the issuance of a second ballot paper to the BJP MLA.

"The lady MLA from Brahmagiri made a clear mistake while voting. However, the officers present in the voting room, who are in charge, have illegally accepted her vote and issued a second ballot paper.

"This is completely against democratic norms and a violation of election rules. We strongly object to this. Some of our members have raised the issue, but they are not listening, thereby destroying the democratic election process," Patnaik told reporters, as per PTI.

Ahead of the polling, the Congress had moved its MLAs to Kasauli on Friday, reported PTI. Accompanied by State Congress chief Rao Narender Singh, party general secretary in-charge of Haryana, B K Hariprasad and some party MPs from the state, including Deepender Singh Hooda, the MLAs were shifted to Kasauli in Solan district on Sunday and returned to Chandigarh on Monday morning. This was done due to fears of cross voting.

Not all 37 Congress MLAs in assembly went to Himachal, including former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had also stayed back.

As the voting is underway in Rajya Sabha to fill spots in 37 seats across 10 states, Bihar JDU President Umesh Singh Kushwaha said that NDA is waiting to formally announce victory. "NDA only has to formally declare victory. 101% our victory is certain. No matter what tactics the opposition resorts to, voting is happening in favour of the NDA. All five seats will be in favour of the NDA," he said.

He added, "Detaining legislators is an insult to democracy. Some legislators have been freed and are not in captivity, so we salute their courage."

Polling is taking place on 4 Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha. Not to forget, quite a drama took place before the polls, particularly in Odisha seats as BJD and Congress accused BJP of engaging in 'horse trading'.

Two candidates of the BJP are its state unit president Manmohan Samal, and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar. Former Union minister Dilip Ray is also contesting as an Independent and has the support of the saffron party.

The BJD nominees are party leader Santrupt Misra and eminent urologist Dr Datteswar Hota, whom the Congress and the CPI(M) are supporting.