Election Commission Schedules Rajya Sabha Polls For Jammu & Kashmir And Punjab O n October 24

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday announced that biennial elections to fill four vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir will be held on October 24, with vote counting scheduled for the evening, an hour after polling concludes.

These elections come nearly a year after the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, marking the return of the Union Territory to representation in the Upper House of Parliament.

Jammu and Kashmir has been without Rajya Sabha representation since February 2021. Former members Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmed Laway completed their terms on February 15, 2021, while Fayaz Ahmed Mir and Shamsheer Singh Manhas concluded their tenure on February 10, 2021.

Announcing the schedule, the ECI clarified that following the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature), the four sitting members of the former state are deemed elected to the seats allocated to the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.

“All four seats were lying vacant since the end of the previous members’ terms due to the lack of a required electorate at the time of vacancy. After the constitution of the State Legislative Assembly of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, there is now a required electorate to conduct the Biennial Elections,” the ECI noted.

In addition, the poll body also announced a by-election for a vacant Rajya Sabha seat from Punjab, which will be held on the same day, October 24, with counting immediately afterward. The seat fell vacant following the resignation of AAP MP Sanjeev Arora, who stepped down after being elected to the Punjab Assembly. Arora’s Rajya Sabha term was originally set to end on April 9, 2028.