Eighty-one Rajya Sabha vacancies will arise, with eight members retiring this year and 73 in 2026.
New Delhi: A total of 81 vacancies will be created in the Rajya Sabha by the end of 2026, as the upper house will see a significant number of its members retire. Of these, eight will retire this year, and the remaining 73 will retire in 2026.
Among those retiring, 31 are from the BJP, followed by eight from Congress. Also on this list is former Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, who was nominated and will retire from the Rajya Sabha in March next year. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh, whose name was pushed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Congress President Mallikarjuna Kharge, and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh are also among the retirees.
It is worth noting that the BJP has currently sent eight nominated members to the Rajya Sabha, and there are still four vacancies. The decision to fill these vacancies in the nominated category, a few or all, is expected to happen soon, especially in light of the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar, where the party is aiming to have its own Chief Minister post-election. Nitish Kumar, the current Chief Minister, has already announced that he will retire from politics.
As has been the practice, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, assisted by his advisors in the Prime Minister’s Office and Home Minister Amit Shah, will decide on the names to fill these forthcoming vacancies after a thorough vetting process, apart from factors such as caste and other political considerations.
In the past, as seen in the case of Sumer Singh Solanki, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2020, Modi and Shah also view the Rajya Sabha as a platform to elevate unknown and unrecognised individuals to the national level, recognising their work and encouraging them.
Regarding state-wise vacancies, Tamil Nadu leads the list with 12 retirements, with key figures from the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) set to retire. Uttar Pradesh follows closely with 10 retirements, predominantly from the BJP (eight).
Maharashtra will also see a notable seven retirements, including Ramdas Athawale, Priyanka Chaturvedi, and Sharad Pawar. Of these seven, only three are from the ruling BJP-led alliance.
With a successful Rajya Sabha candidate needing the support of 36 MLAs to win, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi with 48 MLAs, can hope for just one seat, suffering a loss of three Rajya Sabha members. This will come under strain if the BJP-led alliance with 237 MLAs can ensure cross-voting by 15 MLAs from the opposition, which would lead to the BJP winning all seven seats.
Bihar, with five retirements, includes Prem Chand Gupta of the RJD and Upendra Kushwaha. In West Bengal, five members will retire, including those from the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Odisha and Gujarat will each have four members retiring, with leaders from the BJD, BJP, and other regional parties stepping down. Karnataka will also see four retirements, with members from the BJP and other regional parties leaving their seats.
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh will each experience three retirements, primarily from Congress and the BJP.
In Madhya Pradesh, a Rajya Sabha candidate will need the support of 58 MLAs. With the BJP having 165 MLAs, it is likely to field candidates for all three vacancies and attempt to secure cross-voting from at least nine Congress MLAs, who hold 64 seats.
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh will each see retirements from two members.
Smaller states like Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Uttarakhand, and Arunachal Pradesh will have one Rajya Sabha member retiring from each, most of whom belong to the BJP or regional parties like the National People’s Party (NPP) and the Mizo National Front.