New Delhi: After the Assembly polls, elections for four Rajya Sabha seats – three from Delhi and one from Sikkim – will be conducted on January 19, as announced by the Election Commission of India on Friday. The elections are scheduled due to the conclusion of the six-year term of Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh, Sushil Kumar Gupta, and Narain Dass Gupta on January 27 next year. Additionally, the term of Sikkim Democratic Front’s Hishey Lachungpa concludes on February 23.
Notably, Singh is in judicial custody following the arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the case related to money laundering which links to the Delhi excise policy case. The Rajya Sabha MP has been under suspension since July 24 for unruly behaviour in the House.
The Election Commission issued a statement and informed that the election to fill up the four Rajya Sabha vacancies will be conducted on January 19 and the nomination process for the same will begin on January 2. January 9 will be the last date to file papers.
As per established practice, the polling to fill the four vacant Rajya Sabha seats will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the counting of votes will start from 5 p.m.
It is worth noting that, the three Rajya Sabha from Delhi will be filled by conducting “three separate elections in accordance with the law on the subject as each of these three vacancies fell under three different cycles, which were determined at the time of the initial constitution of the Rajya Sabha in 1952 itself”, the poll panel stated.
The EC’s decision to conduct three separate elections, however, was challenged in the
The Election Commission’s decision to conduct three separate elections faced a legal challenge in 1994. In the case A.K. Walia vs. the Union of India and Others, filed on behalf of the Indian National Congress, it argued that all three vacancies should be filled through a common election. The contention was because Rajya Sabha elections operate under the system of proportional representation, as highlighted by the poll panel.
The Delhi High Court, however, had dismissed the petition.