Elections to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Sikkim which will fall vacant after Rajya Sabha member from Sikkim Hishey Lachungpa of Sikim Democratic Front retires on February 23, 2018 will be held on January 16 next year.
The election for the Sikkim Rajya Sabha seat will held along with polls for three Delhi seats that will also fall vacant after three members retiring next month.
The Election Commission also said that the by-poll for the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sabha seat vacated by Manohar Parrikar after assuming charge as the Goa Chief Minister will also be held on the same date. Parrikar’s term in the Upper House of the Parliament was to end on November 25, 2020.
The National Capital Territory of Delhi was allocated three seats in the Rajya Sabha and these are currently being held by Karan Singh, Janardan Dwivedi and Parvez Hashmi (all Congress). Their term is ending on January 27, 2018.
The Election Commission said the three Delhi seats would be filled by holding three separate elections as each of these vacancies fell under three different cycles which were determined at the time of the initial constitution of the Rajya Sabha in 1952.
It said that the Delhi High Court in 1994 dismissed a petition filed against holding separate elections for the three seats.
The notification to hold elections for the five seats – three in Delhi and one each in Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim — will be issued on December 29.
The last date for filing nominations for the election is January 5. The nominations will be scrutinized the next day while parties can withdraw names of their candidates by January 8 next year.
Voting and counting will be held on January 16 next year.
