Published: Friday, May 7, 2010, 1:45 IST
By DNA Correspondent | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_rajya-sabha-elections-to-be-held-on-june-11_1380051
The Election Commission (EC) will hold polls on June 11 to fill 57 Rajya Sabha seats from 14 states.
The seats, including those held by Union ministers Ambika Soni and Jairam Ramesh and Congress general secretaries BK Hariprasad, Mohsina Kidwai and Oscar Fernandes, are falling vacant in June and July.
Those retiring, mostly on July 4, include Jaya Bachchan (UP), RK Dhawan (Bihar), M Venkaiah Naidu (Karnataka), Satish Chandra Misra (UP), Kaptan Singh Solanki (MP) and Janardhan
Reddy.
The term of former defence minister George Fernandes, who was elected in a byelection from Bihar, is expiring on July 7.
Gireesh Sanghi, the newspaper magnate and Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh, is retiring in June.
The Congress will have to ensure the election of commerce minister Anand Sharma, whose term has already expired, from outside Himachal Pradesh, a state which he represented till last month.
The elections will be held in Maharashtra for six seats and those retiring include Rahul Bajaj, Sanjay Raut, Vijay Darda, Anwar Tariq (NCP) and Sharad Joshi.
The four seats falling vacant in Rajasthan are those of former Rajya Sabha deputy chairman Najma Heptulla (BJP), Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi, Narendra Budana and Santosh Bagrodia.
Uttar Pradesh will see elections to 11 seats, Andhra six seats, Bihar five, Karnataka four, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa three, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Jharkhand and Haryana two and Uttarakhand one seat.
June 1 is the last date for filing nominations. Scrutiny will be held the next day and withdrawals will be allowed up to June 4.
Polling will be held on June 11 from 9 am to 4 pm and counting will be done the same day from 5 pm.
Results will be also declared the same day, EC sources said.
