Thirty-seven seats from ten States are up for grabs in the biennial Rajya Sabha elections to be held on March 16, 2025. Of these, 26 seats have already been filled by unopposed candidates, including 85-year-old NCP founder Sharad Pawar, Republican Party of India (RPI-A) chief Ramdas Athawale, and AIADMK veteran M Thambidurai. Ballots will be cast for the remaining 11 seats — five in Bihar, four in Odisha, and two in Haryana — with results to be declared on the same day.
At present, the Opposition bloc — Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) has 80 seats in the 245-seat Upper House, while the ruling coalition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) holds a comfortable majority of 136 members with BJP itself having 102 MPs.
