Voting for 11 Rajya Sabha seats across Bihar, Odisha and Haryana was held on March 16, 2026, resulting in setbacks for opposition parties amid cross voting and absence of legislators during polling.
In Bihar, all five seats were won by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). A total of six candidates contested, including five from the NDA and one from the opposition Mahagathbandhan. Each candidate required a minimum of 41 votes to secure victory. The NDA had 202 legislators in the 243-member Assembly, falling short by three votes for the fifth seat, while the Mahagathbandhan had 35 legislators and required six additional votes.
The winning NDA candidates in Bihar include Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) national president Nitish Kumar, Bharatiya Janata Party national president Nitin Nabin, JDU’s Ramnath Thakur, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLSP)’s Upendra Kushwaha, and BJP’s Shivesh Ram.
The opposition candidate A.D. Singh failed to secure a win after four Mahagathbandhan legislators—three from the Congress and one from the Rashtriya Janata Dal—remained absent during voting. The result could not be decided on first preference votes and proceeded to second preference counting, in which Shivesh Ram was declared elected. The Mahagathbandhan subsequently accused the BJP of intimidation and inducement of legislators.
In Odisha, five candidates contested for four seats, with a minimum of 30 votes required to win. Bharatiya Janata Party candidates Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar secured victories, along with Biju Janata Dal candidate Santarup Mishra. BJP-backed Independent candidate Dilip Ray also won.
In the 147-member Assembly, the BJD and Congress together had sufficient numbers to secure their joint candidate. However, eight BJD and three Congress legislators voted in favour of Dilip Ray, leading to cross voting. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik accused the BJP of inducement and stated that action would be taken against the legislators who violated the party line.
In Haryana, polling was held for two seats. Vote counting was delayed for approximately five hours following complaints of breach of voting secrecy. Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Sanjay Bhatia and Congress candidate Karmveer Buddh secured one seat each. Independent candidate Satish Nandal was defeated. In the final count, Sanjay Bhatia received 31 votes, Karmveer Buddh 28 votes, and Satish Nandal 27 votes.
The Election Commission of India had announced elections for 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states last month. Of these, 26 seats were uncontested due to a single candidate and were declared elected unopposed. Those elected include Sharad Pawar, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Ramdas Athawale and Tiruchi Siva.
