The Election Commission has decided to hold elections on June 19 for 24 seats in the Rajya Sabha. The election of 18 seats in these 24 was deferred due to the Corona epidemic. Four seats each are from Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two from Jharkhand and one each from Manipur and Meghalaya. On Monday, the commission decided to hold elections on six seats in Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Mizoram along with these seats where four Rajya Sabha members from Karnataka are retiring on June 25, while the tenure of one member of Arunachal Pradesh will be completed on June 23. A Rajya Sabha member from Mizoram will retire on 18 July. The notification for these six seats will be released on Tuesday.
The Election Commission said in a statement that the counting of votes in these seats will take place on the evening of June 19. Postponing the elections in early March, the Election Commission made it clear that the procedures completed by then, including the filing of nominations by the candidates, would remain valid. An official said that only voting and counting were left. This work will now be completed. The commission deferred the Rajya Sabha election on 26 March citing the threat of coronavirus.
It said that after reviewing the situation a decision would be taken where 17 members from six states retired on April 9, while one member from Meghalaya retired on April 12. The election was originally scheduled to take place on March 26 in 55 seats of the upper house. But, 37 candidates have won the election unopposed. The statement said that the Commission has reviewed the matter in detail after considering all the factors including the latest guidelines issued by the Union Home Secretary. The Commission has also decided that the Chief Secretary of the States will appoint a senior officer to ensure that measures of control of covid-19 are implemented during the election arrangements. The Election Commission has appointed the Chief Electoral Officer of the concerned state as observer for these elections.
