Rajya Sabha elections 2026: Voting for 11 seats in three states underway

Voting for the 11 Rajya Sabha seats-five in Bihar, four in Odisha, and two in Haryana- is currently underway on Monday (March 16). Out of the 37 seats where elections were supposed to be held, 26 candidates have already won unopposed, and the remaining 11 seats are witnessing contests.

Contest for two seats in Haryana

Two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana with candidates from the BJP, the Congress and an Independent are witnessing contest. BJP’s Sanjay Bhatia, Congress nominee Karamvir Singh Boudh and Independent candidate Satish Nandal are contesting the two seats, with the BJP backing Nandal for the second berth.

Also Read: BJP shifts Odisha MLAs to Paradip ahead of Rajya Sabha elections

Nandal had contested the 2019 Haryana Assembly polls as a BJP nominee but lost. He currently serves as one of the party’s state vice presidents.

Polling is being held between 9 am and 4 pm, while counting will begin from 5 pm. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Minister Shyam Singh Rana and several BJP MLAs, including Krishna Gahlawat, Mool Chand Sharma and Ram Kumar Gautam, were among the early voters.

Congress shifts MLAs ahead of polling

Ahead of the polling, the Congress moved its MLAs to Himachal Pradesh on Friday. They were accompanied by state Congress chief Rao Narender Singh, party general secretary in-charge of Haryana B K Hariprasad and some party MPs, including Deepender Singh Hooda.

The legislators were shifted to Kasauli in Solan district on Sunday and returned to Chandigarh on Monday morning after voting began.

Numbers in Haryana Assembly

The Congress has 37 MLAs in the 90-member Haryana Assembly, though a few did not travel owing to family commitments or health issues. Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda also remained in the state. While the party has the numbers to help its candidate win a seat, the equation could change in case of cross-voting.

Also Read: As Janata stalwarts retreat, regional titans face crisis against saffron surge

The BJP has 48 MLAs, the INLD has two and three members are Independents. Each candidate requires 31 votes to secure a Rajya Sabha seat. The two vacancies arose as BJP members Kiran Choudhry and Ram Chander Jangra are set to complete their terms on April 9.

Nandal would require second preference votes from the BJP, support from Independent MLAs, the two INLD legislators and at least eight votes from Congress members for victory. The INLD has not yet indicated whether it will support any candidate or abstain.

Bihar Rajya Sabha polls

In Bihar, voting also began on Monday for five Rajya Sabha seats with five nominees from the ruling NDA and one from the opposition RJD contesting the biennial polls. Polling started at 9 am in the Assembly complex and counting will begin after 5 pm.

Among the NDA candidates are Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, BJP leader Nitin Nabin, Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur, RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha and BJP’s Shivesh Kumar. The opposition has fielded RJD leader Amarendra Dhari Singh. A candidate requires the support of at least 41 MLAs in the 243-member Assembly to win a seat.

MLAs absent during voting

Meanwhile, Congress leaders on Monday tried to contact two of their MLAs-Manoj Bishwas from Forbesganj and Surendra Prasad from Valmikinagar-who had not reached the Bihar Assembly to cast their votes in the Rajya Sabha polls. RJD MLA Faisal Rahman from Dhaka was also absent. The NDA requires three additional votes to secure all five seats.

RJD and NDA express confidence

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav expressed confidence that his party would win a seat with support from AIMIM and BSP. “We are confident. Earlier, the strength of Mahagathbandha was 35. To win, 41 is needed… Colleagues from AIMIM and BSP have supported the RJD candidate,” he said.

Also Read: Haryana Rajya Sabha polls: Congress MLAs shifted to Himachal amid cross-voting fears

RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha and Bihar BJP president Sanjay Saraogi asserted that all five NDA candidates would win. “The victory of all five NDA candidates is more than 100% certain,” Mr. Kushwaha said.

Meanwhile, Mokama MLA Anant Singh arrived in a prisoner van to vote and said he would not contest the next Assembly election.

Odisha polls amid poaching allegations

In Odisha, five candidates are contesting four Rajya Sabha seats. The election has drawn attention amid allegations of attempts to poach MLAs.

“Reports have emerged that four individuals were arrested in Bengaluru on allegations of attempting to hand over blank cheques to MLAs with the intent to buy votes for BJP-supported Rajya Sabha candidates,” wrote former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on ‘X’.

“For the past few days, I have been consistently stating that the BJP has been engaged in horse-trading-like activities to bring MLAs from other parties in Odisha over to its side. This arrest in Bengaluru is major proof of that. The people of Odisha are watching everything and will certainly keep this in mind,” said Mr. Patnaik.

(With agency inputs)