New Delhi

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday announced the schedule for biennial elections and a bye-election to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal, along with biennial elections to the Legislative Councils of Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh from Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies.

According to an official notification issued by the ECI, biennial elections will be conducted for 11 Rajya Sabha seats, comprising 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh and one from Uttarakhand, which will fall vacant in November upon the retirement of sitting members. Simultaneously, a by-election will be conducted for a single casual vacancy in the Upper House from West Bengal, which arose following the resignation of TMC MP Rukmini Mallik.

The notification for the Rajya Sabha polls will be issued on September 29, and the last date for filing nominations has been fixed for October 6. Following the scrutiny of papers on October 7, the last date for the withdrawal of candidatures will be October 9. Polling will take place on October 16 between 9:00 AM and 4:00 PM, with the counting of votes scheduled on the same day at 5:00 PM.

The retiring Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh include Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Arun Singh, Brijlal, BL Verma, Ram Gopal Yadav, Neerja Shekhar, Geeta Alias Chandraprabha, Ramji, Seema, and Dr. Dinesh Sharma. Naresh Bansal is the lone retiring member from Uttarakhand.

The Commission has directed that only integrated violet colour sketch pens of pre-fixed specifications provided by Returning Officers shall be used to mark preferences on ballot papers.

In a separate order, the ECI also announced biennial elections for 28 Legislative Council seats across four states. These include 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh (five Graduates' and six Teachers' constituencies), eight in Bihar (four Graduates' and four Teachers' constituencies), five in Maharashtra (three Graduates' and two Teachers' constituencies), and four in Karnataka (two Graduates' and two Teachers' constituencies) ahead of the impending retirement of members.

For the Legislative Council elections, the notification will similarly be issued on September 29, with October 6 set as the last date for filing nominations. The scrutiny will take place on October 7, and candidates can withdraw their nominations until October 9. Polling for all 28 council seats will be held on October 23 between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM, and the counting of votes will take place on October 27.

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The ECI added that the Model Code of Conduct comes into force with immediate effect in all the concerned Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies across the four states.