Bypoll to one RS seat in Raj on Sep 3, numbers favour BJP

Jaipur: The bypoll to one Rajya Sabha seat, which went vacant after Congress MP K.C. Venugopal was recently elected as a Lok Sabha MP, will be held on September 3.

According to the Election Commission of India, nominations will start with the notification on August 14 and August 21 will be the last date for filing nominations.

Nomination papers will be scrutinized on August 22 and can be withdrawn till August 27. Voting time is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on September 3. The results will be declared after the counting of votes at 5 p.m. on the same day.

It needs to be mentioned here that the Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant after Congress leader K.C. Venugopal won the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The term of the one seat on which by-election is being held is till June 2026.

Looking at the current strength in the state, the BJP's victory in this seat is certain. If Congress does not field a candidate, then there can be an uncontested win for the party too, said sources.

There are a total of 200 Assembly seats in Rajasthan, but five are vacant. BJP has 115 MLAs, while Congress has only 66 MLAs. According to the strength of numbers, the BJP's victory is certain.

Rajasthan has 10 Rajya Sabha seats, out of which, currently five are with Congress and BJP has four members. One seat is vacant. Election is to be held on the vacant seat. If this seat also goes to the BJP's account, then both parties will have 5-5 seats.

After this election, two seats will fall vacant in June 2026. In this, one seat is from the Congress side and the second will be the BJP's.

The Rajya Sabha MPs from the BJP are Rajendra Gehlot, Ghanshyam Tiwari, Chunnilal Garasiya, and Madan Rathore, all from the BJP. The Congress party has Sonia Gandhi, Neeraj Dangi, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Kumar in the Upper House from the state.