Ranchi, Feb 24 (PTI) The biennial elections to two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand will be held on March 21, an official said here on Saturday.

Two Rajya Sabha MPs from the state - Samir Oraon of the BJP and Diraj Prasad Sahu of the Congress - will complete their tenure on May 3, necessitating the conduct of fresh elections to fill up the posts, the Election Commission said.

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As per the EC announcement, the polls will be held on March 21, while the notification will be issued on March 4.

The last date for filing nomination will be March 11, and the date of withdrawal of candidature is March 14.

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The polling will be held on March 21 between 9 am and 4 pm on the Jharkhand Assembly premises, and the counting of votes will be conducted on the same day at 5 pm, the official said.

"Adequate measures for close monitoring of the election process by appointing observers shall be taken to ensure free and fair election," the commission said.

Jharkhand has a total of six Rajya Sabha seats.

The ruling alliance led by JMM has 47 MLAs in the 81-member state assembly. The BJP has 26 legislators and the AJSU Party has three. The NCP and CPI(ML) have one lawmaker each, apart from two Independents. There is also a nominated member.

Of the 47 MLAs of the ruling alliance, the JMM has 29, Congress 17 and RJD 1.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)