By-elections to six Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha, Gujarat and Bihar will be held on July 5, the Election Commission (EC) announced on Saturday. Three seats from Odisha are currently vacant in the upper house, while the number of Rajya Sabha vacancies from Gujarat and Bihar, are two and one, respectively. BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad’s election to the lower house from Patna Sahib in Bihar has resulted in the solitary Rajya Sabha vacancy from the State. While BJD leader Achutananda Samanta from Odisha got elected to the Lok Sabha, his party colleague Pratap Keshari Deb won the State Assembly polls. The Gujarat seats fell vacant after Mr. Shah won from Gandhinagar and Ms. Irani was elected from Amethi.

Source: The Hindu June 15, 2019 17:37 UTC