{"id":5223,"date":"2026-03-16T16:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T10:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/?p=5223"},"modified":"2026-03-16T16:14:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T10:44:15","slug":"battle-for-rajya-sabha-will-cross-voting-impact-key-upper-house-seats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/battle-for-rajya-sabha-will-cross-voting-impact-key-upper-house-seats\/5223\/","title":{"rendered":"Battle for Rajya sabha : Will cross-voting impact key upper house seats?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Polling is underway for 11 seats in the Rajya Sabha<\/a><\/span><\/span> across Bihar<\/span><\/span>, Odisha<\/span><\/span> and Haryana<\/span><\/span> as part of the biennial election process that determines the composition of India\u2019s upper house of Parliament. The exercise is being conducted under the supervision of the Election Commission of India<\/a><\/span><\/span> in accordance with constitutional and statutory provisions governing indirect parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n

The current round follows the Election Commission\u2019s notification for biennial elections to 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states. Of these, 26 candidates have already been elected unopposed after the completion of nomination and scrutiny procedures. The remaining seats are being decided through voting by members of the respective state legislative assemblies, reflecting the constitutional design under which Rajya Sabha members are indirectly elected.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s legal framework requires that elections to the upper house follow a proportional representation system through a single transferable vote, a method designed to ensure fair representation of political parties in accordance with their strength in state legislatures. The system is governed by provisions of the Representation of the People Act<\/a>, 1951<\/span><\/span> and detailed election rules administered by the Election Commission. These provisions aim to maintain transparency and prevent procedural irregularities during the voting process.<\/p>\n

In Bihar<\/span><\/span>, voting is taking place for five Rajya Sabha seats. Based on the current legislative arithmetic, the National Democratic Alliance<\/a><\/span><\/span> is expected to secure four seats. However, the contest for the fifth seat has drawn attention because the outcome could depend on cross-voting or shifts in alliance support among legislators. The situation intensified after the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen<\/a><\/span><\/span>, led by Asaduddin Owaisi<\/a><\/span><\/span>, extended support to the Rashtriya Janata Dal<\/a><\/span><\/span> candidate Amarendra Dhari Singh<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

The possibility of cross-voting in such elections is also governed by legal provisions under India\u2019s anti-defection framework, which restricts legislators from voting against party directives in certain circumstances. However, Rajya Sabha elections are conducted through an open ballot system, introduced through amendments to election rules, which allows party leadership to verify whether legislators have adhered to official voting instructions.<\/p>\n

In Odisha<\/span><\/span>, polling is being conducted for four Rajya Sabha seats with five candidates in the race. The election is taking place in the state assembly, where 147 members are eligible to vote. Political parties have organised procedural briefings for their legislators to ensure correct use of the preferential ballot system, as incorrect marking can render votes invalid under election law.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in Haryana<\/span><\/span>, voting is being held for two seats. Although the contests vary in intensity across states, the elections carry broader policy implications because the composition of the Rajya Sabha directly affects the passage of legislation at the national level.<\/p>\n

Under India\u2019s bicameral parliamentary system, laws must typically receive approval from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. As a result, changes in the upper house\u2019s composition can influence legislative negotiations, particularly on major policy reforms, constitutional amendments, and financial oversight matters.<\/p>\n

Election authorities have emphasised that strict legal procedures are being followed to ensure the integrity of the electoral process, including adherence to ballot protocols, transparency requirements, and compliance with statutory election rules. The outcome of the remaining contests will help determine the balance of political representation in the Rajya Sabha, shaping the legislative environment for upcoming policy debates and national governance decisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Polling is underway for 11 seats in the Rajya Sabha across Bihar, Odisha and Haryana as part of the biennial\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":482,"featured_media":5226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1],"tags":[2614,2615,813,2612,2611,2613,2616,2610],"class_list":["post-5223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india","category-news","tag-all-india-majlis-e-ittehadul-muslimeen","tag-asaduddin-owaisi","tag-election-commission-of-india","tag-national-democratic-alliance","tag-rajya-sabha","tag-rashtriya-janata-dal","tag-representation-of-the-people-act","tag-rjd"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/482"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5223"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5236,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5223\/revisions\/5236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/trade-policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}