Six Rajya Sabha seats to be filled in December 20 bypoll, says Election Commission. Key details inside

The bypoll for filling six vacant Rajya Sabha seats in four states will be held on December 20, the Election Commission said on Tuesday. Three of these seats are from Andhra Pradesh, and one each is in Odisha, West Bengal, and Haryana.

The vacancies in the Rajya Sabha include the seat vacated by Venkatramana Rao, who resigned in August this year, Beedha Masthan Rao, who also resigned in August, and Rayaga Krishnaiah, who resigned in September.

Venkatramana Rao's term from Andhra Pradesh would expire in June 2024 while the terms of Masthan Rai and Krishnaiah, both from Andhra Pradesh, would expire in June 2028.

The term of Sujeet Kumar who resigned in September would expire in April 2026. Kumar was a Rajya Sabha member from Odisha.

Jawhar Sircar, the Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal, resigned in September. His term was until April 2026. Krishan Lal Panwar, a Rajya Sabha member from Haryana, resigned in October. His term was to continue till August 2028.

Rajya Sabha Election Process

Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by MLAs in states through the proportional representation process with the single transferable vote (STV) system. The MLAs don’t vote for each seat. Instead, the MLAs have to list different candidates in the order of their preference.

So, getting elected to Rajya Sabha will depend on the number of MLAs a particular party has in the state. There can be twists, however, if the MLAs cross-vote, as happened in Himachal Pradesh in February.

The Himachal Setback

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the lone Himachal Pradesh seat in the Rajya Sabha elections on February 27. This was a major setback for the Congress party, which was ruling the state. The Congress had 40 MLAs in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, and the BJP had only 25. 

"The commission has directed that for the purpose of marking preferences on the ballot paper, only integrated violet colour sketch pens of pre-fixed specification, provided by the Returning Office, shall be used. No other pen shall, under any circumstances, be used in the aforesaid elections," the Election Commission said in its notice on Tuesday. 

The poll panel said adequate measures must be taken to ensure free and fair elections by appointing observers to closely monitor the election process.