Bharatiya Janata Party National President Nitin Nabin has appointed central observers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Bihar, Haryana, and Odisha.
The biennial polls will be held on March 16 to fill 37 seats across ten states, with counting scheduled the same day at 5 p.m.
According to the party’s press release, Chhattisgarh Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma and Union Minister of State Harsh Malhotra will oversee the elections in Bihar. Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghvi has been named observer in Haryana, while Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule will serve as observer in Odisha.
In Odisha, four seats will fall vacant in April. State BJP chief Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar have filed nominations for two of these seats. In Bihar, five seats are up for election. The nomination of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar initially caused dissent within the JD(U), but party leaders later accepted the decision after Kumar clarified his stance in a meeting. BJP President Nitin Nabin is also contesting in Bihar.
Meanwhile, Haryana will see polling for two Upper House seats. The elections are significant as they will reshape the Rajya Sabha’s composition, with terms of 37 members from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana ending in April.
