EC announces biennial polls to 37 Rajya Sabha seats on March 16

Biennial polls to 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 States, which are falling vacant on different dates in April, will be held on March 16, the Election Commission said on Wednesday (February 18, 2026).

The States where seats are falling vacant are Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar.

How are elections to the Rajya Sabha held?

Only elected members of the State Legislative Assemblies can vote in a Rajya Sabha election. The legislators send a batch of new members to the Upper House every two years for a six-year term. A third of Members of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (which is a permanent House and is not subject to dissolution), from each State retire once in two years and polls are held to fill up the vacancies.

Voting is by single transferable vote, as the election is held on the principle of proportional representation.

Candidates fielded by political parties have to be proposed by at least 10 members of the Assembly or 10% of the party’s strength in the House, whichever is less. For independents, there should be 10 proposers, all of whom should be members of the Assembly.