Story perspectives

Election Commission schedules 16 Oct 2026 Rajya Sabha polls

By Drooid · Sep 22, 2026, 10:07 AM UTC · How we work

Left

Alleged Voter Deletion

The Election Commission of India announced Rajya Sabha elections for 11 seats—10 in Uttar Pradesh, 1 in Uttarakhand—and a West Bengal by-election on 16 October 2026.
Left-leaning coverage warns the voter-verification SIR process could delete millions, flagging especially Delhi’s electorate and affecting 32 % nationwide, 53.73 % in Delhi.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh called the SIR a “massive Shah Instigated Removal of voters”.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal said he will challenge the notice in the Supreme Court.

Right

EC Symbol Freeze Alleged

India’s Election Commission announced elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats—10 in Uttar Pradesh, 1 in Uttarakhand—and a West Bengal by-election on 16 October 2026.
TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee alleged the Election Commission’s freeze on the party’s name and symbol was dictated by the BJP.
Projections show the BJP-led alliance to win eight Uttar Pradesh seats and the West Bengal seat.
The West Bengal by-election follows former MP Rukmini Mallik’s resignation on 16 July 2026.

Center

Projected Seat Allocation

The Election Commission of India announced Rajya Sabha elections for 11 seats—10 in Uttar Pradesh, 1 in Uttarakhand—and a West Bengal by-election on 16 October 2026.
Based on Uttar Pradesh Assembly arithmetic, the BJP is projected to win eight seats and the Samajwadi Party two.
Notification is 29 September, nominations close 6 October, scrutiny 7 October, withdrawals 9 October, and counting 16 October.
Uttar Pradesh seats vacate on 25 November 2026, and West Bengal seat follows Rukmini Mallik’s 16 July resignation.

History

Historical Context

In 2004 India held its first fully electronic general election, using EVMs in all 543 constituencies and recording about 370 million votes. A 2013 Supreme Court order added VVPAT paper trails, later limited to a 2 % audit in 2019. Now the Election Commission’s proposed voter-verification SIR, opposed by Narendra Modi, Jairam Ramesh and Kalyan Banerjee, could face a Supreme Court challenge before the Oct 16 2026 polls.

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Alleged Voter Deletion

The Election Commission of India announced Rajya Sabha elections for 11 seats—10 in Uttar Pradesh, 1 in Uttarakhand—and a West Bengal by-election on 16 October 2026.
Left-leaning coverage warns the voter-verification SIR process could delete millions, flagging especially Delhi’s electorate and affecting 32 % nationwide, 53.73 % in Delhi.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh called the SIR a “massive Shah Instigated Removal of voters”.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal said he will challenge the notice in the Supreme Court.

1 / 4