Rajya Sabha elections for 13 seats on March 31st; includes three northeastern states: ECI
The Election Commission of India stated on Monday that elections for four Rajya Sabha seats in three Northeastern states – Assam, Tripura, and Nagaland – will be held on March 31, 2022.
Elections will be held for nine Rajya Sabha seats in the region, comprising two in Assam, one each in Tripura and Nagaland, and five in Punjab, three in Kerala, and one in Himachal Pradesh.
Ranee Narah and Ripun Bora from Assam, K.G. Kenye from Nagaland, and Jharna Das (Baidya) from Tripura are the retiring members from the region.
The voting hours have been set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. On March 31, 2022, at 5 p.m., the votes will be counted.
“Notifications will be sent out on March 14, 2022, and nominations will be accepted until March 21, 2022. Nominations will be scrutinised on March 22, 2022,” ECI stated in a statement to the media on Monday.The deadline for withdrawing candidacies has been set for March 24, 2022.
“The Commission has directed that only integrated violet colour sketch pen(s) of pre-determined specifications, issued by the returning officer, be used for marking preference(s) on the vote paper.” The announcement stated that “no other pen shall be used in the elections under any circumstances.”
“The Commission has asked the concerned chief secretaries to depute a senior official from the state to ensure that the extant guidelines on COVID-19 containment measures are followed while making preparations for the elections,” the statement added.
