The Election Commission Saturday announced bypolls to six Rajya Sabha seats on July 5, including the one vacated by BJP chief Amit Shah following his election to the Lok Sabha. The Congress had demanded that the bypolls to the two vacant seats in Gujarat be held together as it felt that it could win one of the two Rajya Sabha seats vacated by Shah and Union minister Smriti Irani. The Gujarat seats fell vacant after Shah won from Gandhinagar and Irani from Amethi Lok Sabha constituencies respectively. The other seats for which bypolls have been announced are one vacated by Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad (Bihar) and Achuytananda Samanta (Odisha) following their election to the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha bypolls will also be held on two more seats from Odisha.

Source: Hindustan Times June 15, 2019 14:54 UTC