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Election Commission Announces October 24 Rajya Sabha Polls In Jammu And Kashmir

AnyFans 2025-10-13

By News18,Shankhyaneel Sarkar

The Election Commission on Monday announced that elections to fill four vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir will be held on October 24. The seats have remained vacant for over four years due to the absence of an elected Assembly in the Union Territory.
The Union Law and Justice Ministry in August turned down a proposal from the poll body to stagger the terms of the four seats, which currently fall vacant together, according to a report by the Indian Express from earlier this year.
The EC had sought a presidential order to ensure that one-third of the seats would retire every two years, in line with the Rajya Sabha’s structure. However, the ministry said on August 22 that there was no provision in law to allow such an order.
The four Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir remained vacant during the recently-held vice presidential election.
Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) elect Rajya Sabha members of their respective states.
Article 83 of the Indian Constitution lays down the duration of Parliament. It says that the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is a permanent body and is never dissolved. Instead, one-third of its members retire every two years, and each member serves a six-year term.
The Union Territory has been unrepresented in the Upper House of Parliament since February 15, 2021, the day when Ghulam Nabi Azad and Nazir Ahmed Laway finished their terms. Two other members, Fayaz Ahmed Mir and Shamsheer Singh Manhas, had completed their terms on February 10, the same year.
The 543-member Lok Sabha currently has one vacant seat — Basirhat in West Bengal — while six seats are lying vacant in the 245-member Rajya Sabha. Four of these are from Jammu and Kashmir, with one each from Punjab and Jharkhand, according to news agency PTI.
The Punjab seat fell vacant after AAP leader Sanjeev Arora resigned following his election to the state Assembly in a recent bypoll. In Jharkhand, the demise of JMM leader Shibu Soren has created another vacancy in the Upper House, the news agency said in a report.