Rajya Sabha elections across 10 states; NDA, Oppn face off in Bihar, Haryana, Od

The biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha to fill 37 seats across 10 states are scheduled on Monday March 16 with counting of votes set for the same day at 5 pmThe term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra Odisha Tamil Nadu West Bengal Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Haryana Himachal Pradesh and Telangana will conclude in the month of April vacating the seats for new members to be electedOut of these 26 candidates have already secured victory unopposed Voting will now take place for the remaining 11 seats including five from Bihar four from Odisha and two from HaryanaIn key battlegrounds in Bihar Haryana and Odisha the BJPled National Democratic Alliance NDA is working to defeat Opposition gainsSo far 26 candidates have been elected unopposed with the BJP securing seven Congress five the Trinamool Congress four the DMK three and Shiv Sena RPIA NCP NCPSP AIADMK PMK and UPPL one each Notable names among the winners include Sharad Pawar Abhishek Singhvi Tiruchi Siva and Vinod TawadeAs preparations are underway for the biennial elections all attention has turned to Haryana Bihar and Odisha which have emerged as key arenas of contest between the ruling National Democratic Alliance NDA and the Opposition bloc for four important seatsThe most interesting part of these Rajya Sabha polls is the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish KumarNitish Kumar Bihars longesttenured Chief Minister for over two decades announced that he would be heading to the Rajya Sabha and filed his nomination in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah among other leaders The 75yearold also said that the new Cabinet would have his full supportI seek to become a member of the Rajya Sabha in the elections being held this time I want to assure you with complete honesty that my relationship with you will continue in the future as well and my resolve to work together with you to build a developed Bihar will remain steadfast The new government that will be formed will have my full cooperation and guidance Nitish Kumar posted on XApart from Nitish Kumar other NDA candidates including Upendra Kushwaha and BJP chief Nitin Nabin also filed their nominations for the Upper House Amid apprehensions of possible crossvoting and allegations of horsetrading several political parties particularly the Congress have moved their legislators to resorts and locations outside their home states in a bid to ensure unity within their ranks ahead of the pollingAmong those elected without contest are Nationalist Congress Party NCP founder Sharad Pawar Republican Party of India Athawale president Ramdas Athawale and senior AIADMK leader M Thambidurai The counting of votes will be conducted on the same day as polling at 5 pmThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever