Elections to 22 Rajya Sabha seats to be held soon; MoS George Kurian's term ends in June

NEW DELHI: Elections to 22 Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant in 50 states will be held early next month. The terms of Mallikarjun Kharge, H.D. Deve Gowda, Digvijay Singh and Union Minister George Kurian will end in June. Kurian became an MP from Madhya Pradesh.

Of the 22 seats falling vacant, 11 belong to the BJP and four to the Congress. Four seats each will fall vacant in Karnataka, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Three seats each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Elections will be held in one seat each in Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand.

The Congress will get three seats, depending on the number of assembly seats in Karnataka. The JD(S) will lose Deve Gowda, and the BJP will lose K. Narayan and Iranna Kadadi. The Congress will retain one seat each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. However, with the retirement of senior leader Shaktisinh Harishchandrasinhji Gohi, the party will lose its sole Rajya Sabha seat in Gujarat.

Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, will be re-elected from Karnataka. It is also heard that Ashok Gehlot, Pawan Khera, Kamal Nath and Jitu Patwari will be brought to the Rajya Sabha from other states. In Jharkhand, one Congress member can be elected with the help of the JMM. In Andhra, the YSRCP may lose the three seats that are vacant. TDP will gain from these seats.

Current Status in Rajya Sabha:

• BJP: 113

• Congress: 29

• Trinamool Congress: 13

• DMK: 8

• YSR: 7