The election for 15 Rajya Sabha seats across three states will be held on Tuesday amid concern about cross-voting.
A total of 41 leaders for 56 seats have already been elected unopposed. Those elected included former Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J.P. Nadda, former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L. Murugan.
For 15 seats, elections will be held in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.
In Uttar Pradesh, 11 candidates are in the fray with the BJP and the SP having the numbers to send seven and three members respectively. But BJP's Sanjay Seth as its eighth candidate has necessitated a keen contest. The BJP is said to be banking on surplus votes from the Rashtriya Lok Dal, which has aligned with the NDA.
The BJP has fielded former Union Minister R.P.N. Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, senior state leader Amarpal Maurya, former Minister Sangeeta Balwant (Bind), party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former MLA Sadhna Singh and former Agra mayor Naveen Jain.
The SP has fielded actor-MP Jaya Bachchan, retired IAS officer Alok Ranjan and Dalit leader Ramji Lal Suman.
In Karnataka, the ruling Congress shifted its MLAs to a private hotel on Monday. There are four Rajya Sabha seats and five candidates. From the Congress, former Union Minister Ajay Maken, current Rajya Sabha MPs Syed Nasir Hussain and G.C. Chandrashekar are contesting. BJP's former MLC Narayansa Bhandage is contesting and Kupendra Reddy is the BJP-JD(S) alliance candidate.
In Himachal Pradesh, the BJP has forced a contest on the state's single seat by fielding Harsh Mahajan against Congress's Abhishek Manu Singhvi. While the Congress has 40 MLAs to the BJP's 25, the election will be seen as a prestige battle for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Sushanta demanded Centre to start direct flight service along Agartala-Mumbai route
The state transport minister Sushanta Chowdhury on Monday met the Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu in Delhi and discussed a series of issues related to the development of air services from Agartala MBB Airport.
CM Dr Manik Saha discuses development railway services and infrastructure in Tripura
Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Monday met the General Manager (Construction) of North East Frontier Railway here in his chamber at the secretariat and discussed a series of issues related to the further development of railway infrastructure in the state and ease passenger movement.
State to get Rs 150 Crore for Tourism, Sushanta Meets Union Minister Shekhawat
The Central Government has sanctioned an additional ₹150 crore for the enhancement of Tripura's tourism sector, Tripura Tourism Minister Sushanta Chowdhury announced on Monday.
CM to inaugurate 34 projects of Rs 250 Crore tomorrow
Chief Minister Prof. Dr. Manik Saha will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of various projects worth Rs 250 crore, comprising 34 projects, in Unakoti district tomorrow.
JP Nadda, BL Santosh arriving in state on March 9: CM Manik Saha
Chief Minister Prof. Dr. Manik Saha today announced that BJP All India National President JP Nadda and National General Secretary (Org) B.L. Santosh will be arriving on March 9 to attend the two-year celebration of the present state government at Swami Vivekananda Maidan.
Two Bihar women held with cannabis at Agartala Railway Station
Acting on a tip-off, the Government Railway Police recovered 21 kg 65 grams of dried cannabis from two women at Agartala railway station. The estimated market value of the seized contraband is said to be over three lakh rupees.
UK PM announces new 1.6-billion-pound deal for Ukraine to buy missiles
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that Britain will allow Ukraine to use 1.6 billion pounds ($2 billion) of British export finance to purchase more than 5,000 air defence missiles.
'PM Modi working for welfare of all communities without discrimination', says Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah Committee chief
Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Dargah Committee Chairman Syed Afsar Ali Nizami on Sunday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for attending the Sufi music festival 'Jahan-e-Khusro' and said that he gave the message of brotherhood and works for the welfare of all communities and religion without any discrimination.