Rajya Sabha elections rescheduled for June 19
The HinduThe elections to 18 Rajya Sabha seats that were deferred owing to the lockdown will be held on June 19, the Election Commission of India said on Monday. Polling for the 18 seats — four each in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, two seats in Jharkhand and one each in Manipur and Meghalaya —– was earlier scheduled for March 26, the day after the initial three-week lockdown began. The ECI said it decided to hold the polling and counting on June 19 after reviewing the matter and taking into account the Union Home Ministry’s May 30 guidelines and the inputs from the Chief Electoral Officers of the States concerned. “The Commission has also decided that the Chief Secretaries shall depute a senior officer from the State to ensure that the extant instructions regarding COVID-19 containment measures are complied with while making arrangements for conducting the elections.