Rajya Sabha elections on March 16: From Sharad Pawar to Priyanka Chaturvedi, here are the MPs whose terms end in April

The Election Commission of India on Wednesday issued the notification for elections to 37 Rajya Sabha seats, with polling and counting of votes scheduled for March 16. The term of 37 Rajya Sabha members is set to expire in April. “Adequate measures for close monitoring of the election process by appointing observers shall be taken to ensure free and fair election,” read the notification. Among those MPs whose terms are ending, seven are from Maharashtra, six from Tamil Nadu, five each from West Bengal and Bihar, four from Odisha, three from Assam, two each from Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Telangana, and one from Himachal Pradesh. Notable members whose tenures will lapse include NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Priyanka Chaturvedi, RPI (ATWL)’s Ramdas Athawale, Trinamool Congress’s Saket Gokhale, and Rashtriya Lok Morcha’s Upendra Kushwaha. The Rajya Sabha is a permanent House and cannot be dissolved. To ensure continuity, one-third of its members retire after every second year, under Article 83(1) of the Constitution, and “biennial elections” are held to fill these vacancies. The term of a member is six years. Out of the 245 members, 12 are nominated by the President, and 233 are representatives of the states and Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry. Vacancies arising due to resignation, death or disqualification are filled through bypolls. Those elected serve out the remainder of their predecessor’s term. Here’s a list of the Rajya Sabha MPs whose terms will end in April: Maharashtra: Dr. Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Dr. Fauzia Tahseen Ahmed Khan, Priyanka Vickram Chaturvedi, Sharadchandra Govindrao Pawar, Dhairyashil Mohan Patil, Rajani Ashokrao Patil, Ramdas Bandu Athawale Tamil Nadu: N R Elango, P Selvarasu, M Thambidurai, Tiruchi Siva, Dr Kanimozhi NVN Somu, G K Vasan West Bengal: Saket Gokhale, Ritabrata Banerjee, Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, Mausam Noor (vacant w.e.f. 05.01.2026), Subrata Bakshi Bihar: Amarendra Dhari Singh, Prem Chand Gupta, Ramnath Thakur, Upendra Kushwaha, Haribansh Narayan Singh Odisha: Mamata Mohanta, Muzibulla Khan, Sujeet Kumar, Niranjan Bishi Assam: Rameswar Teli, Bhubaneswar Kalita, Ajit Kumar Bhuyan Chhattisgarh: Kavi Tejpal Singh Tulsi, Phulo Devi Netam Haryana: Kiran Choudhry, Ram Chander Jangra Telangana: Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, K R Suresh Reddy Himachal Pradesh: Indu Bala Goswami Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More