24 Rajya Sabha seats up for grab in 10 states; Elections on June 18

Among the Rajya Sabha MPs completing their terms are former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda and senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Digvijaya Singh.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday announced that elections for 24 Rajya Sabha seats will take place on June 18 as 24 members are set to retire between June 21 and July 19 across 10 states. Among those completing their terms are former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda and senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Digvijaya Singh. According to the ECI, polling will be conducted for four Rajya Sabha seats each in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, and Karnataka. Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will each see elections for three seats, while Jharkhand will have polls for two seats. One seat each will also go to polls in Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram.

The deadline for submitting nomination papers has been fixed as June 8.

Also Read: BJP won big in West Bengal, but it won’t gain Rajya Sabha seats for now – Here is why

Check full schedule of Rajya Sabha Elections below:

Issue of Notifications: 1st June, 2026 (Monday)
Last date of making nominations: 8th June, 2026 (Monday)
Scrutiny of nominations: 09th June, 2026 (Tuesday)
Last date for withdrawal of candidatures: 11th June, 2026 (Thursday)
Date and time of Poll: 18th June, 2026 (Thursday) 09:00 am- 04:00 pm
Counting of Votes: 18th June, 2026 (Thursday) at 05:00 pm

Apart from Gowda and Kharge from Karnataka, other retiring members include Union Ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu from Rajasthan and George Kurian from Madhya Pradesh, along with Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil.

Also Read: ‘BJP has only 2 MLAs in Punjab, yet its Rajya Sabha MPs have become 6; this is blatant mockery of democracy’: Bhagwant Mann

The ECI has also declared by-elections for one Rajya Sabha seat each from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. In Maharashtra, the vacancy arose after Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar resigned from the Upper House following her election to the state assembly.

Shift in Rajya Sabha Balance of Power

The composition of the Rajya Sabha has undergone a significant transformation. Following Upper House Chairman C P Radhakrishnan’s official recognition of seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs merging with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the AAP's representation has dwindled to just three members, while the BJP's strength has climbed to 113. Prior to this development, the AAP held 10 seats in the Upper House, compared to the BJP's 106.

New NDA Strengths and Breakdown

With these changes, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) now commands a total of 148 seats in the Rajya Sabha. The alliance's current framework consists of:

BJP: 113
AIADMK: 5
JD (U) & NCP: 4 each
TDP, Shiv Sena, & United People’s Party (Liberal): 2 each
RLD, JD (S), AGP, RPI (Athawale), & Rashtriya Lok Morcha: 1 each
MNF, NPP, & PMK: 1 each

This total also includes Independent MP Kartikeya Sharma, alongside 7 nominated members who have not officially aligned with the BJP.

Of the states going to the polls, except for Karnataka and Jharkhand, others are governed by the BJP or BJP allies. The BJP has gained power in  Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh while its has brutal majority in Madhya Pradesh. Thus, the BJP tally in the Rajya Sabha are likely to go up after the polls.