2026 Rajya Sabha elections
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Country India Ongoing yes Previous election 2025 Rajya Sabha elections Previous year 2025 Next election 2027 Rajya Sabha elections Next year 2027 Election date 16 March, 18 June and November 2026 Seats for election 74[a] [b] Rajya Sabha Majority seats 123[c] Leader 1 J. P. Nadda Party 1 Bharatiya Janata Party Leader since 1 24 June 2024 Alliance 1 NDA Seats before 1 108[d] Leader 2 Mallikarjun Kharge Party 2 Indian National Congress Leader since 2 16 February 2021 Alliance 2 INDIA Seats before 2 29 1blank Current Alliance seats 1data 1 132[e] 1data 2 65 2blank Alliance seats after 3blank Seat change Posttitle Majority after election Before election National Democratic Alliance [f] After election TBD
The 2026 Rajya Sabha elections will be held as part of a routine six-year cycle of the upper house of the Parliament of India from 16 March to November 2026 to elect 72 of its 245 members, of which the states through their legislators elect 233, and the remaining 12 are appointed by the President.[1] [2]
Contents
Electoral system
MPs are elected through indirect election by the members of the State legislative assemblies using the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote . Each voter (MLA) ranks candidates in the order of preference (marking 1, 2, 3 and so on) under an open ballot system . Candidates have to reach a specific quota of votes in order to win a seat.[3]
\text{Quota} = \left( \frac{\text{Total valid votes}}{\text{Vacancies} + 1} \right) + 1
For a single-seat election, each ballot is valued at one. When multiple seats are filled, the ballot value is set to one hundred.[4]
A candidate is elected unopposed when the number of candidates matches the number of available seats after nominations and withdrawals period.[5]
Schedule
Poll event March election[2] June election[6] Date of Notification 26 February 2026 1 June 2026 Last date for filing nomination 5 March 2026 8 June 2026 Scrutiny of nomination 6 March 2026 9 June 2026 Last date for withdrawal of nomination 9 March 2026 11 June 2026 Date of Poll (if necessary) & 16 March 2026 18 June 2026
Members Retiring and Elected
March Election Elections were held in Bihar, Haryana & Odisha to elect those states' Rajya Sabha MPs on 16 March 2026. For the rest of the states, MPs were elected unopposed as the number of candidates matched the number of available seats after the nomination and withdrawal period.[7]
Previous MP Party Term end Elected MP Party 1 Indu Goswami 9-Apr-2026 Anurag Sharma
June Election Previous MP Party Term end Elected MP Party 1 Nabam Rebia 23-Jun-2026
November Election
By-elections
Previous MP Party Vacancy date Elected MP Party Term start Term end Reason for Vacancy 1 Debashish Samantaray 25-May-2026 BJP 03-Apr-2030 Resignation
Notes
^ including 2 casual vacancies ^ excluding 12 nominated seats . ^ out of 245 (including 12 nominated seats .) ^ excluding 5 nominated members . ^ excluding 12 nominated members . ^ including the support of 12 nominated members ^ Defected from TMC to INC in January 2026.[8] ^ Quota = 403 ÷ (10+1) + 1 = 37 votes. NDA with 294 MLAs could win 7 seats and INDIA with 104 MLAs could win 2 seats; the remaining votes are NDA 35, INDIA 30 and Others 3. Since none reach 37, the result of the 10th seat depends on the stand of the 3 Other MLAs (JD(L)-2, BSP-1) and three by-elections . References
^ "Statewise Retirement" . rajyasabha.nic.in ^ "Elections To 37 Rajya Sabha Seats Falling Vacant Across 10 States On March 16: EC" . ETV Bharat News . 2026-02-18. Retrieved 2026-02-22.^ "Membership of Rajya Sabha" . Archived 2025-11-21 at the Wayback Machine.^ Dutta, Prabhash K. (2020-06-19). "Rajya Sabha election: How MPs are elected to the upper house" . India Today . Retrieved 2025-11-22. ^ "Handbook for Returning Officers" . Archived 2016-08-02 at the Wayback Machine.^ https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1079531448269548&set=pcb.1079531534936206 ^ "Rajya Sabha polls: Tight contests loom in Bihar, Odisha, Haryana after 26 elected unopposed" . Moneycontrol . 2026-03-16. Retrieved 2026-03-16.^ "Ahead of Bengal polls, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Mausam Noor quits party, returns to Congress" . The New Indian Express . 2026-01-04. Retrieved 2026-02-28.