The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the schedule for elections to 12 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. Polling will be held on October 16, 2026, with 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, one in Uttarakhand and a by-election for one vacant seat in West Bengal.
The notification for the elections will be issued on September 29. Candidates can file their nominations until October 6, while scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on October 7. The last date for withdrawal of candidature has been fixed for October 9. If polling is required, voting will take place from 9 am to 4 pm on October 16, followed by counting from 5 pm the same day. The entire electoral process is scheduled to be completed by October 19.
In Uttar Pradesh, 10 Rajya Sabha seats are involved in the biennial election. The terms of the sitting members on these seats are due to end on November 25. Among the outgoing members are BJP leaders Arun Singh, Geeta Shakya, Neeraj Shekhar, Brij Lal, BL Verma, Seema Dwivedi and Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri, along with Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav and BSP's Ramji Gautam.
One additional Rajya Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, previously held by former deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, is already vacant. Sharma resigned from the Rajya Sabha after being appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with his resignation taking effect on September 11.
In Uttarakhand, one Rajya Sabha seat will go to the polls as the term of BJP member Naresh Bansal is set to end on November 25.
West Bengal will see a Rajya Sabha by-election for a seat that became vacant following the resignation of Trinamool Congress MP Rukmini Mallik, popularly known as actor Koel Mallick. The person elected will serve the remainder of the existing term, which runs until April 2, 2032.
The upcoming elections will take place through the electoral college system, with elected members of the respective state Legislative Assemblies participating in the Rajya Sabha polls. The results will determine the representatives for the seats becoming vacant through retirement as well as the West Bengal casual vacancy.
The announcement comes ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election scheduled for next year and will set the process in motion for filling the Rajya Sabha vacancies arising from the retirement of sitting members. Alongside the Rajya Sabha schedule, the ECI has also announced elections to 28 seats in the Legislative Councils of Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, with those polls scheduled for October 23.
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