Biennial polls to Rajya Sabha seats on July 24; Jaishankar, O’Brien among those retiring

NEW DELHI — Elections to 10 Rajya Sabha seats, including those held by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien, will be held on July 24, the Election Commission (EC) said on Tuesday.

The 10 seats in the Upper House of Parliament are falling vacant in July and August with BJP members Vinay D Tendulkar from Goa and Jaishankar, Jugalsinh Lokhandwala and Dineshchandra Anavadiya from Gujarat being among those completing their tenures.

TMC members O’Brien, Dola Sen, Sushmita Dev, Shanta Chhetri and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray are retiring from West Bengal. Congress member Pradip Bhattacharya also completes his tenure in August.

According to practice, the counting of votes will take place at 5 pm on July 24 itself, an hour after the conclusion of the poll process.

According to a statement issued by the EC, the 10 members are retiring between July 28 and August 18 on completion of their six-year term in the Upper House.

In another statement, the EC said bypoll to fill vacancy in Rajya Sabha following resignation of TMC’s Luizinho Joaquim Faleiro from West Bengal will also be held on July 24. He resigned in April while his term was to expire in April, 2026.