24 Seats, 10 States, Candidates In Poll Position: Stage All Set For Rajya Sabha Elections On June 18
24 Seats, 10 States, Candidates In Poll Position: Stage All Set For Rajya Sabha Elections On June 18 Published By, Last Updated: June 09, 2026
24 Seats, 10 States, Candidates In Poll Position: Stage All Set For Rajya Sabha Elections On June 18 Published By, Last Updated: June 09, 2026, 13:25 IST Rajya Sabha elections on June 18: How are the 24 seats divided across 10 states? Who are the candidates? Rapid Read Rajya Sabha members are elected for staggered si year terms, with one-third of the House retiring every two years. (AI generated for representation) With the Rajya Sabha elections for 24 biennial vacancies across 10 states scheduled to be held on June 18, the political temperature is set to rise amid the monsoon. Three states — Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha — will also see Rajya Sabha by-elections. The Election Commission had on June 1 issued a notification for biennial elections for the 24 seats. The last date for filing nominations was June 8. THE 24 SEATS OF PRIVILEGE The break-up of the 24 seats at stake Andhra Pradesh: 4 seats Gujarat: 4 seats Karnataka: 4 seats Madhya Pradesh: 3 seats Rajasthan: 3 seats Jharkhand: 2 seats Arunachal Pradesh: 1 seat Manipur: 1 seat Meghalaya: 1 seat Mizoram: 1 seat CANDIDATES IN THE FRAY Andhra Pradesh: Sana Satish Babu, Bhashyam Ramakrishna, Chintakayala Vijay (Telugu Desam Party), and Lingamaneni Ramesh (Jana Sena Party) Gujarat: BJP’s Rajubhai Shukla, Mansinh Parmar, Mukeshbhai Rathwa, Jitendrabhai Kanzariya Karnataka: Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge, Pawan Khera and Mansoor Ali Khan, BJP’s Prof. (Dr.) M.
Nagaraja Madhya Pradesh: BJP’s Tarun Chugh and Rajneesh Agarwal, Meenakshi Natarajan (Congress) Rajasthan: Dr. Satish Poonia and Dr. Alka Singh Gurjar from BJP, Neeraj Dangi (Congress) Arunachal Pradesh: Tai Tagak (BJP) Manipur: A. Sarda Devi (BJP) Meghalaya: James P.K. Sangma (People’s Party) Mizoram: K. Laltluangkima (Zoram People’s Movement) Jharkhand: Baidyanath Ram (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) and Pranav Jha (Indian Congress). NDA-backed Independent candidate Parimal Nathwani also filed his nomination for the second seat. Bypolls Maharashtra: Rajendra Jain (Nationalist Congress Party) Tamil Nadu: Praveen Chakravarty (Congress) Odisha: Debashish Samantaray (BJP) THE POLITICAL DYNAMICS Andhra Pradesh: Set for a unanimous election, as the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Janasena alliance has fielded candidates matching exactly the total vacancies. Madhya Pradesh: A high-stakes battle where the BJP has fielded a third candidate, testing the voting unity of the Congress opposition amid cross-voting fears. Karnataka: The BJP has fielded Dr M. Nagaraja, ruling out another term for former PM H.D. Deve Gowda. Congress is projected to flip a seat due to its numerical strength.
Gujarat: Due to a massive numerical advantage in the assembly, the BJP is poised to win all seats, potentially leaving the Congress with no upper-house representation from the state. Jharkhand: Expected to be retained by the ruling JMM-led coalition. THE RAJYA SABHA ELECTIONS The Rajya Sabha is a continuing House and cannot be dissolved. Members are elected for staggered si year terms, with one-third of the House retiring every two years. According to constitutional provisions, the electoral system follows distinct structural guidelines. Members are elected by the elected MLAs of the State Legislative Assemblies. Voting is conducted through a proportional representation system using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) method. The open ballot system was introduced in 2003 to prevent cross-voting. Electors from a political party must show their marked ballot paper to their authorised party agent before casting it. News18 Newsletter Handpicked stories, in your inbox A newsletter with the best of our journalism submit About the Author Manjiri Joshi At the news desk for 20 years, the story of her life has revolved around finding pun, facts while reporting, on radio, heading a daily newspaper desk, teaching mass media students to now editing speci...
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