You can call it upper house math, and it comes into focus next month. The ECI made it clear on Friday, May 22, 2026, that the biennial process is on a hard schedule to be done and dusted by June 20, well before the retirements set in.
States and seats at stake
There will be some action in Central India. Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are each to pick three, while Jharkhand is making good on two vacancies, one of them the spot left open since August 4, 2025 when Shibu Soren passed on. Down in the south and west, you have Karnataka, Andhra and Gujarat all putting forward four apiece. The North East is in on it as well: one seat in Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal and Mizoram. Ten states, 24 seats in total.
Why it matters now
These aren’t direct votes; they’re decided by the electeds in the state legislatures via proportional representation. So any wobble in a state coalition or a thin margin can ripple through to the Upper House, affecting everything from committee assignments to how things are handled on the floor.
Who is completing terms
Some of the more notable names whose time is up include Digvijaya Singh in M.P., and in Karnataka, H.D. Deve Gowda and Mallikarjun Kharge. They’ll be leaving behind some high-stakes races where the numbers in the assembly will tell. Then there’s the rest of the field: Neeraj Dangi, Nabam Rebia, Iranna Kadadi, Ayodhya Rami Reddy Alla, Rajendra Gehlot, Pilli Subhaschandra Bose, Rambhai Harjibhai Mokariya, George Kurian, Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba, Wanweiroy Kharlukhi, K. Vanlalvena and so on. The Commission’s timetable has room for all of them.
How voting will be conducted
When it comes to the actual voting, the rules are strict. You can only use the violet sketch pen the Returning Officer provides to put your mark on the ballot. Nothing else.
What the schedule looks like
Voting is set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the 18th, with the count to follow at 5. It’s a tight turn-around to make sure we have our new representatives in place before the old ones go. With the deadline for nominations on June 8, parties have just over a week to put together the kind of alliances that will hold up in the proportional vote.
Key dates and timings released by the Commission are as follows:
– Notification issue: June 1
– Last date for nominations: June 8
– Scrutiny of nominations: June 9
– Withdrawal deadline: June 11
– Polling hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 18
– Counting: 5 p.m. on June 18
