Rajya Sabha biennial elections to be held in Kerala on March 31

PTI22-09-2020_000059B

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Monday declared the Rajya Sabha elections in six states including Kerala. The elections to the Upper House will take place on March 31.

The term of office of 13 members of the Rajya Sabha elected from the six States is due to expire on their retirement in April, 2022.

The number of vacancies in the respective states are Punjab-5, Kerala-3, Assam-2, Himachal Pradesh-1, Tripura-1 and Nagaland -1.

The three Kerala MPs whose term is set to expire next month are A K Antony, M V Shreyams Kumar and Somaprasad K. 

The important dates including last date of making nominations are listed below:

  • Issue of Notifications: 14th March, 2022
  • Last date of making nominations: 21st March, 2022
  • Scrutiny of nominations: 22nd March, 2022
  • Last date for withdrawal of candidatures: 24th March, 2022
  • Date of Poll: 31st March, 2022
  • Hours of Poll: 09:00 am- 04:00 pm
  • Counting of Votes: 31st March, 2022 at 05:00 pm
  • Date before which election shall be completed: 02nd April, 2022

The Election Commission has directed the Chief Secretaries concerned to depute a senior officer from the State to ensure that the extant instructions regarding COVID-19 containment measures are complied with while making arrangements for conducting the elections.

Apart from Antony, other prominent members who are retiring are Anand Sharma (Himachal Pradesh), and Pratap Singh Bajwa and Naresh Gujral (Punjab). While former defence minister Antony, Deputy Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha Sharma and Bajwa are from the Congress, Gujaral is from the Shiromani Akali Dal.

The Rajya Sabha nominations from Punjab will depend on the performance of parties in the state in the February 20 assembly polls.

There has been no vacancy in the past five years during the Congress government in the state.

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