Elections For The Council Of States And State Legislative Councils, 2026.

New Delhi, Delhi, 1st of June 2026 : Elections For The Council Of States And State Legislative Councils, 2026.

1.Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced elections to 27 seats in the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) including biennial and bye-elections and for the State Legislative Councils (by MLAs) in 3 states.

2.The details are summarised in the table below:

Legislative Body	Election Type	State(s)	Seats
Council of States (Rajya Sabha)	Biennial election	10 States*	24
Council of States (Rajya Sabha)	Bye-election	Maharashtra	1
Council of States (Rajya Sabha)	Bye-election	Tamil Nadu	1
Council of States (Rajya Sabha)	Bye-election	Odisha	1
State Legislative Councils (by MLAs)	Biennial election	Bihar	9
State Legislative Councils (by MLAs)	Biennial election	Karnataka	7
State Legislative Councils (by MLAs)	Bye-election	Bihar	1

States: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Mizoram

3.Commission has issued notifications regarding the election programme and has appointed Returning Officers and Assistant Returning Officers (for both biennial and bye elections). Details of the appointment have been published in the Gazette of India/State Gazettes today.

4.With this, the filing of nominations for all the aforesaid elections began from 11:00 AM today, i.e., June 1, 2026. The last date for filing of nominations is June 8, 2026, till 3:00 PM.

5.The scrutiny of nominations for each of these elections shall be taken up by the Returning Officers (ROs) concerned on June 9, 2026. The last date for withdrawal of candidatures is fixed on June 11, 2026.

6.In case of contested elections, the poll shall be held on June 18, 2026, from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, followed by the counting of votes at 5:00 PM, in respect of all these elections.

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