Elections to 24 Rajya Sabha seats in 10 States, including four in Karnataka, on June 18

New Delhi: Elections to 24 Rajya Sabha seats in 10 states, including four in Karnataka, and bypolls to two seats in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu will be held on June 18 with the Opposition likely to register a marginal gain while the ruling NDA may manage to maintain the number of its sitting seats.

Congress president and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, senior Congress MP Digvijaya Singh and Union Ministers George Kurien and Ravneet Singh Bittu are among the prominent MPs who will be retiring next month. 

Elections will be held in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat (four seats each), Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh (three each), Jharkhand (two seats), Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal and Mizoram (one each).

Along with this, bypolls to two Rajya Sabha seats in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu that fell vacant due to resignations of NCP's Sunetra Pawar, who became Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, and AIADMK's C Ve Shanmugam, who became an MLA, will also be held on the same day. 

The bypoll in Tamil Nadu would be keenly watched as it is to be seen whether ruling TVK will make an entry in the Upper House or leave the seat to ally Congress. The NDA is set to win the bypoll in Maharashtra

Of the 26 seats, including the two that go to bypolls, the NDA has 18 seats, while Congress has four, JMM one and YSR Congress three. If MLAs vote according to party lines, the NDA is likely to win 18 while the Opposition’s tally will rise from five to eight. YSR Congress is likely to lose all its three seats. 

This election could also see Congress losing its representation from Gujarat where the BJP had decimated it in the last polls.

In Karnataka, the BJP has two (Narayana Koragappa and Iranna Kadadi) and its ally JD(S) one while Congress has one. Congress is likely to gain one seat in this election owing to its numerical advantage in the Assembly and with Kharge's renomination a foregone conclusion, all eyes are on who would be the second candidate. Gowda is also likely to get a renomination with BJP support.

Andhra Pradesh is one state where the NDA will be gaining following the decimation of the YSR Congress. TDP may take a larger chunk but allies BJP and Jana Sena are also likely to stake claim. Ayodhya Rami Reddy Alla, Parimal Nathwani, P Subhaschandra Bose (all YSR Congress) and S Satish Babu (TDP) are the retiring MPs.

Similarly in Gujarat, BJP is likely to win all four seats, grabbing the seat vacated by Congress' Shaktisinh Gohil. At present, BJP has three sitting MPs -- RH Mokariya,Narhari Amin and Ramila Becharbhai Bara.

Jharkhand has two seats of JMM going to polls, including one that became vacant due to the death of former Chief Minister Shibu Soren. Both seats are likely to be bagged by the JMM coalition and it is to be seen whether the Hemant Soren-led party would concede one to the Congress.

The term of Congress' Digvijaya Singh, Union Minister George Kurien and BJP's Sumer Singh Solanki are ending next month. Singh has already announced that he would not be seeking another term, leading to lobbying for the seat, including by veteran Kamal Nath. BJP is likely to retain the two seats while Congress can win one.

Rajasthan is another state where the status quo is likely to be maintained with the BJP and Congress poised to win two and one seats respectively, if one goes by the Assembly strength. Congress' Neeraj Dangi and BJP's Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu and Rajendra Gehlot are retiring. It is to be seen whether Congress would accommodate the party's Media and Publicity Department Chairman Pawan Khera from Rajasthan.

One each seat in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Mizoram are also going to polls on June 18. BJP is slated to retain the seats of Maharaja Sanajaoba Leishemba in Manipur and Nabam Rebia in Arunachal Pradesh.

NPP is likely to retain Wanweiroy Kharlukhi's seat in Meghalaya while in Mizoram, MNF (K Vanlalvena) may lose its seat to the ruling ZPM.