New Delhi: The 16th Punjab Assembly, once constituted after the results are declared on March 10, will have the arduous task of immediately electing five members to represent the state in the Upper House.
Elections to the Rajya Sabha are due in early April, as the term of five of the state’s seven upper house members will end on April 10. Shwet Malik (BJP), Naresh Gujral (SAD), Pratap Singh Bajwa (Congress), Shamsher Singh Dullo (Congress) and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (SAD) were elected as representatives, but now heads the now-separated group, SAD United are) is bound to come to an end.
The term of two other Rajya Sabha members from the state – Ambika Soni (Congress) and Balwinder Singh Bhundar (SAD) – will end in July.
Sources in the Punjab Assembly have told The Tribune that the Election Commission (EC) has started the election process, while the names of the Returning Officer and Assistant Returning Officer have been sent to the Election Commission.
The elections will be held after the notification is issued immediately after the declaration of the assembly election results.
This election is unique as the state will send its representatives to the Upper House after a gap of six years; The last time this happened was in 2016.
The outgoing assembly did not get a chance to elect any member to the Rajya Sabha. Though representatives of Congress, BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) participated in the elections in the assembly, Aam Aadmi Party legislators who entered the assembly for the first time in 2017, did not get a chance to vote in their first term.
One-third of Rajya Sabha members retire every two years. In Punjab, which was under President’s rule from 1985 to 1992, it did not get a chance to send its representation every two years. In 1992 all the representatives were sent to the Upper House. Since then, elections to the Rajya Sabha are held every six years and all members are elected in one year.
This time, the Assembly will vote to elect Rajya Sabha members, given that the bipartisan system no longer exists.
Since 1997, the members have been elected unanimously, sent by the Congress and the former SAD-BJP alliance.
Representatives of the Upper House. Even with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP-led alliance, voting for the election of Rajya Sabha members to the House seems inevitable.
other 2 MPs
The term of two other Rajya Sabha members from the state – Ambika Soni (Congress) and Balwinder Singh Bhundar (SAD) – will end in July. Rajya Sabha elections are due in early April.
