Rajya Sabha Polls for 4 J&K Seats, 1 Punjab Seat on October 24: EC

The Election Commission said on Wednesday that elections to fill four Rajya Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir and one in Punjab will be held on October 24.

The vote and counting will take place on the same day. Since February 2021, none of the four J&K seats have been filled.  Following MP Sanjeev Arora's resignation in July, the Punjab seat became vacant.

The ECI notice, which ANI cited, states that, in accordance with legislative requirements, the four positions in Jammu and Kashmir would be filled through three distinct elections because each one falls under a different election cycle.

The Indian National Congress had previously challenged the Commission's decision to hold separate elections before the Delhi High Court in 1994, arguing that since Rajya Sabha elections are held using the proportional representation system, all three vacancies should be filled by a single election.

After being elected to the Punjab assembly, MP Sanjeev Arora resigned in July, leaving the seat empty in Punjab.  Originally, his term in the Rajya Sabha was scheduled to expire on April 9, 2028.

Since 2021, the four seats in Jammu and Kashmir have been unoccupied.  Almost a year after the union territory's assembly elections, the Rajya Sabha elections for these seats are taking place.

Members of the Rajya Sabha are chosen by the state and union territory MLAs.  The mandates of Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmed Laway ended on February 15, 2021, leaving Jammu and Kashmir without representation in the Upper House of Parliament.  On February 10, 2021, the tenure of two additional members—Shamsheer Singh Manhas and Fayaz Ahmed Mir—was up.

The former state of Jammu and Kashmir was split into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature), the EC stated when announcing the schedule.

According to reports, the four current Rajya Sabha members who represent the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir are considered to have been elected to the seats allotted to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act.

“All four seats were lying vacant since the expiration of the term of the sitting members due to the non-availability of the required electorate to conduct the elections at the time of occurrence of the vacancies. After the constitution of the State Legislative Assembly of UT of Jammu and Kashmir, there is a required electorate to conduct the Biennial Elections,” the EC said.