Rajya Sabha election 2022: Polling for 16 seats in 4 states today

The elections to 16 Rajya Sabha seats in four states, including Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Haryana, will be held on Friday. The polling will start from 9 am and conclude 4 pm, the counting of votes will start at 5 pm. 

The polls for 16 Rajya Sabha seats come ahead of the election for the next Preisdent of India, which is due to be held in July. 

From Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal to Congress candidates Randeep Surjewala, Jairam Ramesh, and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut are in fray for June 10 Rajya Sabha polls. 

Biennial elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats were announced recently as 41 candidates from Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Telangana were elected unopposed last Friday. 

Polling for 16 Rajya Sabha seats will be held on Wednesday as the numbers of candidates exceed the seats. 

In Maharashtra, where polls for the Upper House of Parliament are taking place after nearly two decades, the ruling MVA alliance is in a tight spot after its arrested MLAs were not allowed to cast their votes. 

Congress has fielded Imran Pratapgarhi, while Praful Patel has been fielded from the NCP in Maharashtra. Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Pawar have been given a run in the polls.

The MVA alliance, which has expressed confidence in winning all six seats, has shifted all its MLAs to a hotel in Mumbai fearing horse-trading. 

In Haryana, polling will take place for two seats as both BJP and Congress have shfited their MLAs to resorts amid fears of poaching.

Congress has nominated senior leader Ajay Maken while the BJP has fielded former minister Krishan Lal Panwar.

In Karnataka, six candidates are in the fray for the Rajya Sabha poll to four seats. 

In Rajasthan, elections will be held on four seats. Congress has 108 legislators in the 200-member state Assembly. The party needs 123 votes to win three seats, where Congress has fielded Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik, and Pramod Tiwari. 

BJP had fielded former state minister Ghanshyam Tiwari and is backing independent candidate Subhash Chandra. 

Congress has shifted its MLAs hotels in Udaipur and Raipur in Chhattisgarh amid poaching fears. Both the parties have accused each other of horse trading and have written to the Election Commission over alleged attempts of horse trading and corrupt practices.