New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced by-elections for six vacant Rajya Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, and Haryana, scheduled for December 20.
However, Jammu and Kashmir, which has had four vacant seats since the dissolution of its Legislative Assembly in 2018, remains excluded, The Week reported. The move has sparked concerns over its prolonged absence in the Upper House
The last Rajya Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir were held in February 2015, during the PDP-BJP coalition government. Of the four seats, three were won by the alliance—Fayaz Ahmad Mir and Nazir Ahmad Laway from the PDP and Shamsher Singh Manhas from the BJP—while Ghulam Nabi Azad secured the fourth seat for the National Conference-Congress alliance.
Since the abrogation of Article 370 and the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory in 2019, these seats have remained vacant. In contrast, the upcoming by-elections address vacancies arising from resignations in other states, including three in Andhra Pradesh and one each in Odisha, West Bengal, and Haryana.
The exclusion of Jammu and Kashmir from this process shows the ongoing political vacuum in the region, raising concerns over its lack of representation in national decision-making bodies.
