EC Announces Voting for 10 UP Seats, Uttarakhand on October 16

• by Akanksha Mishra
• 2026-09-22 12:05:00

Setting the stage for high-stakes legislative maneuvering across state assemblies, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday formally declared the schedule for biennial elections to 11 Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant in the Upper House of Parliament this November. According to the statutory notification released by the poll panel, the biennial contest covers 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh and one seat from Uttarakhand due to the retirement of sitting members completing their six-year constitutional tenures. Concurrently, the poll body announced a separate by-election to fill a vacant Rajya Sabha seat representing West Bengal, necessitated by the sudden resignation of Trinamool Congress (TMC) parliamentarian Rukmini Mallick.

Complete Poll Schedule: Nominations from September 29, Ballot Counting on October 16

Releasing the timeline for the parliamentary Upper House race, the Election Commission outlined that formal gazette notifications will be issued on September 29, marking the opening of the candidate filing window. The deadline for filing nomination papers has been scheduled for October 6, followed by the scrutiny of candidature documents on October 7, while the final cutoff for withdrawal of nominations is set for October 9. Polling across the respective state legislative assemblies will take place on October 16 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with the official counting of ballot votes commencing at 5:00 PM on the same evening to determine the final tally.

Union Ministers and Veteran Leaders Set to Retire; Purple Ink Mandated for Ballots

The upcoming vacancies in Uttar Pradesh will see several political heavyweights and prominent parliamentarians retire from the Council of States, including Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh, former IPS officer Brijlal, Union Minister of State B.L. Verma, senior Samajwadi Party ideologue Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav, alongside Neerja Shekhar, Geeta alias Chandraprabha, Ramji, Seema, and former Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Dinesh Sharma. In Uttarakhand, senior BJP lawmaker Naresh Bansal is slated to complete his tenure. Reaffirming election integrity protocols, the Commission reiterated that electing Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) must mark their voting preferences exclusively using official purple ink sketch pens provided by the designated Returning Officers, explicitly warning that any markings made with unauthorized writing instruments will render the ballot invalid.

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