Nominations Open for Rajya Sabha and Legislative Council Elections Across States

New Delhi, June 2026 : The process of filing nominations for elections to 27 Rajya Sabha seats, including biennial and by-elections, as well as elections to State Legislative Councils in Bihar and Karnataka, commenced on Monday following the issuance of a formal notification by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

According to the Election Commission, nominations began at 11 a.m. on Monday and will continue until June 8, with candidates required to submit their papers by 3 p.m. on the final day. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on June 9, while June 11 has been fixed as the last date for withdrawal of candidature.

The ECI stated that it has appointed Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers for all the elections and published the relevant details in the Gazette of India and respective State Gazettes.

If contests become necessary, polling will be held on June 18 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., followed by the counting of votes at 5 p.m. on the same day.

The biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha will be conducted for 24 seats spread across ten states — Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Mizoram.

In addition, by-elections to three Rajya Sabha seats will be held in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, with one vacancy each to be filled.

The Election Commission has also announced elections to State Legislative Councils in Bihar and Karnataka. Bihar will witness biennial elections for nine seats, while Karnataka will hold biennial elections for seven seats.

Apart from these, a by-election to the Bihar Legislative Council will also be conducted for a seat that fell vacant following the election of former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to the Rajya Sabha.

The nine Bihar Legislative Council seats going to polls are those whose incumbents are scheduled to complete their terms on June 28. The outgoing members include Dr Kumud Verma, Professor Ghulam Ghaus, Mohammad Farooq, Bhishma Sahani, Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha, Sanjay Prakash, Sameer Kumar Singh, Samrat Choudhary and Sunil Kumar Singh.

Of these, the seats earlier represented by Samrat Choudhary and Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha are already vacant after both leaders were elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly.

The upcoming elections are expected to be closely watched as they will influence the composition of the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Councils in the concerned states, with political parties preparing their candidate lists and electoral strategies in the days ahead.

Team Maverick.