Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Returning Officer for the election to the Rajya Sabha in Assam on Monday issued a notification for the two seats of the state. With the issue of the notification, the election process has officially started from today.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) had declared the schedule for the Rajya Sabha election in Assam on May 26, 2025. The ECI had appointed Additional Secretary of the Assam Legislative Assembly, Rajib Bhattacharyya, as the Returning Officer for the election on June 19.
According to the notification issued today, the last date for filing nomination papers is June 9; scrutiny of nomination papers is on June 10; the last date of withdrawal of candidature is June 12; the poll is on June 19 from 9 am to 4 pm; and counting is on the same day after 5 pm. The election process is due to be completed by June 23, 2025.
The tenures of two Rajya Sabha MPs from Assam – Mission Ranjan Das of the BJP and Birendra Prasad Baishya of the AGP – will expire on June 14, 2025. This has necessitated holding the election on the date fixed by the ECI.
To file nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha seats, the signatures of 10 MLAs have to be affixed on the nomination form.
There is a total of seven Rajya Sabha seats in the state. The Electoral College for Rajya Sabha comprises members of the state legislative assembly.
The Assam Legislative Assembly has 126 members – 64 of the BJP, 26 of the Congress, 9 of the AGP, 7 of the UPPL, 15 of the AIUDF, 3 of the BPF, 1 of the CPI (M), and 1 independent (Raijor Dal). The ruling coalition comprises the BJP, AGP and the UPPL, besides floor coordination (inside the Assembly) of the BPF.
The election of the members of the Rajya Sabha is held by means of Single Transferable Vote (STV). In this system, the elected MLAs in the state legislative assembly rank candidates in order of preference. In order to get elected, a candidate must secure a certain quota of votes.
Also Read: Rajya Sabha poll: BJP and AGP to field a candidate each
Also Watch: