CHENNAI: The Election Commission of India has announced a by-election to one Rajya Sabha seat from Tamil Nadu, which fell vacant following the resignation of AIADMK leader C Ve Shanmugam who won the Assembly election.
Shanmugam's term in the Rajya Sabha was scheduled to continue till June 29, 2028.
Officials from the Assembly said the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), which currently has 107 MLAs in the Assembly, is in a favourable position to secure the vacant Rajya Sabha seat with the support of alliance parties. If elected, it would mark the first entry of the 22-month-old TVK into the Rajya Sabha. Newly elected member will fulfil the tenure of the outgoing member Shanmugam's period.
According to the Election Commission notification, the process for filing nominations will begin on June 1, while the last date for submission of nomination papers is June 8.
Scrutiny of nominations will take place on June 9 and candidates can withdraw their nominations till June 11. If necessary, polling will be conducted on June 18.
Members representing States in the Rajya Sabha are elected by elected MLAs of the respective Legislative Assemblies through the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system under proportional representation.
Under the system, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate receives more votes than the minimum required quota, they are elected. If not, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are transferred to the next preferred candidate on those ballots. This process continues until all seats are filled.
TVK – 107
DMK – 59
AIADMK – 47
Congress – 5
PMK – 4
IUML – 2
CPI – 2
VCK – 2
CPM – 2
BJP – 1
DMDK – 1
AMMK – 1
Vacant – 1