S Jaishankar, Derek O’Brien Retiring; Their Rajya Sabha Seats Among 10 to Go to Polls on July 24

Elections to 10 Rajya Sabha seats, including those held by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien, will be held on July 24, the Election Commission (EC) said.

Polls have been announced for one Rajya Sabha seat in Goa, three in Gujarat and six in West Bengal. The voting is said to be held on July 13 and 24, and counting of votes will take place on the last day of voting.

The 10 seats in the Upper House of Parliament are falling vacant in July and August with BJP members Vinay D Tendulkar from Goa and Jaishankar, Jugalsinh Lokhandwala and Dineshchandra Anavadiya from Gujarat being among those completing their tenures.

TMC members O’Brien, Dola Sen, Sushmita Dev, Shanta Chhetri and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray are retiring from West Bengal. Congress member Pradip Bhattacharya also completes his tenure in August, the poll body said on Tuesday.

According to practice, the counting of votes will take place at 5 pm on July 24 itself, an hour after the conclusion of the poll process.

Sources told News18 Hindi that BJP may nominate Jaishankar, former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and former deputy CM Nitin Patel for the three vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat.

According to a statement issued by the EC, the 10 members are retiring between July 28 and August 18 on completion of their six-year term in the Upper House.

In another statement, the EC said bypoll to fill vacancy in Rajya Sabha following resignation of TMC’s Luizinho Joaquim Faleiro from West Bengal will also be held on July 24. He resigned in April while his term was to expire in April, 2026.

(With inputs from PTI)