EC issues Rajya Sabha poll notification, six seats in TN up for grabs on June 10

CHENNAI:  The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the poll dates for the much-anticipated Rajya Sabha elections. Following the end of the terms for six Rajya Sabha MPs of the State — TKS Elangovan, RS Bharathi and KRN Rajeshkumar of DMK, and A Navaneetha Krishnan, SR Balasubramoniyan, and A Vijayakumar of AIADMK on June 29 — the ECI has scheduled the biennial election on June 10. According to the press statement of the ECI, the notification for the biennial election would be issued and nominations would begin on May 24. 

The last date for nomination is May 31. Scrutiny of the nominations will take place on June 1. Polling will take place on June 10 from 10 am to 4 pm and polled votes will be counted on the same day. The ECI further directed the Chief Secretaries of the respective States, to depute a senior officer from the State to ensure that the extant instructions regarding Covid-19 containment are complied with while making arrangements for the elections.

Going by the strength of the Assembly, the DMK-led alliance can elect four MPs out of six seats while the opposition AIADMK-led alliance can elect two. According to sources from the political parties, elections won’t be necessary since both alliances know their strengths and will field candidates accordingly.