Rajya Sabha Elections 2026: Voting Underway for 11 Seats Across Bihar, Haryana, Odisha

Voting is underway for 11 Rajya Sabha seats across Bihar, Haryana and Odisha, with attention mainly on close contests in Bihar and Odisha. Polling began at 9 am and results are scheduled for the evening, as parties watch for any cross-voting, alleged poaching and the impact of intense political manoeuvring ahead of the biennial elections.

The elections are being held because the terms of 37 Rajya Sabha members end in April. According to a report by news agency ANI, 26 of these MPs have already been elected unopposed, leaving 11 seats to be decided through voting on 16 March 2026, in contests that have already triggered hotel and resort politics.

Rajya Sabha Elections: Bihar battle over five seats

Bihar has the most contested field, with voting for five Rajya Sabha seats in the state assembly. The ruling NDA is expected to win four, with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, BJP working president Nitin Nabin, JD(U) leader Ramnath Thakur and NDA-backed Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha seen as strong favourites for unopposed or comfortable victories.

The fifth Bihar seat has become a high-stakes clash between BJP candidate Shivesh Kumar and RJD nominee AD Singh. RJD MLA Ramanand Yadav said the opposition Grand Alliance is united and confident, adding that victory on the crucial fifth seat will go to the RJD, even as NDA leaders project complete dominance.

Rajya Sabha Elections: Resort politics and poaching claims

In the run-up to the Rajya Sabha elections, the Grand Alliance in Bihar shifted its MLAs to a hotel to prevent cross-voting. A similar pattern emerged in Odisha, where Congress moved its legislators to a resort in Bengaluru earlier, then complained that individuals from Odisha arrived with a blank cheque to approach those MLAs.

Congress MP from Tamil Nadu, Manickam Tagore, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and Amit Shah of trying to poach Congress MLAs from Odisha. Tagore said, "They are offering money and roaming around with five crore cheques in Bangalore for our Odisha MLAs. This is their trademark of poaching. Mark my words, the BJP would end in third position with AIADMK in Tamil Nadu," he said.

According to reports, four Bihar Congress MLAs not responding to party, phones off.

Congress MP Tanuj Punia also alleged that the BJP is misusing institutions and money during the Rajya Sabha elections. Speaking on the situation, Punia said, "The BJP invariably employs every possible tactic to dismantle democracy". "At times, they leverage investigative agencies, and at other times, they resort to offering financial inducements. It is precisely for this reason that various political parties are compelled to secure their legislators," he added.

Rajya Sabha Elections: Haryana and Odisha voting details

In Haryana, both Congress and BJP-led alliances have brought their MLAs to Chandigarh for the Rajya Sabha elections. Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini reached the assembly as voting began, while Congress MLAs, who had been in Himachal Pradesh earlier, gathered at senior leader Bhupinder Hooda's residence before heading to the House.

Veteran Congress leader Mohammad Ilyas told India Today that he is "100 per cent confident" about the contest and asserted that all 37 Congress MLAs in Haryana will cast their votes. Separate from the Haryana developments, former Odisha Chief Minister and BJD leader Naveen Patnaik arrived at the Odisha assembly as polling for the Rajya Sabha seats from the state progressed.

By late morning in Bihar, voting figures pointed to high participation from the ruling bloc. Election officials said that 176 MLAs from the NDA had cast their ballots, while 37 MLAs from the Grand Alliance had voted. However, three Congress MLAs were yet to vote and were reportedly out of contact, with their phones switched off.

Within the Bihar assembly complex, BJP's national president Nitin Navin arrived to cast a vote in the Rajya Sabha elections, joining other senior leaders already present. Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly and RJD figurehead Tejashwi Yadav also exercised a vote earlier in the day, with four Congress MLAs reaching the House around the same time.

Tejashwi Yadav, speaking to reporters during the Rajya Sabha elections, again targeted Nitish Kumar over the change of alliance in 2024. Yadav said that he predicted Nitish Kumar would not remain Chief Minister and added, "I have expressed my sympathies to Nitish Kumar. The day he quit Mahagathbandhan to return to the BJP in 2024, I had said that JD(U) does not have any future left. I had said that after the election, Nitish Kumar would not be the CM. They repeated what they did in Maharashtra, but in a slightly different manner. BJP destroys whoever it sides with," he said.

Bihar Minister Shravan Kumar described strong enthusiasm among MLAs for the Rajya Sabha elections. Shravan Kumar said, "Enthusiasm is being seen for voting because, for the first time since 2014, legislators have the opportunity to vote. This enthusiasm shows that people are voting in favour of the NDA. Everything will become clear in just two hours." Shravan Kumar also ruled out any chance of cross-voting.

JD(U) leader and Bihar Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary echoed that confidence, stating that all five NDA candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections would win comfortably. Chaudhary said, "Elections are underway, and the results are also clear. All five NDA candidates will win with a strong and decisive majority... It is also clear that some parties do not trust their own MLAs; some are confined to hotels, others have been taken elsewhere, but all NDA MLAs are freely moving, and there is complete trust in all five candidates, leaders, and MLAs. This is what will ensure our victory."

Upendra Kushwaha, chief of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha and an NDA-backed candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections, made a similar prediction for Bihar. Kushwaha said, "Out of five, all five NDA candidates will win. There is no confusion about this, not even from the day of nomination today." Bihar Minister Deepak Prakash also claimed that several Opposition MLAs would ultimately vote for NDA nominees.

Deepak Prakash said, "All 5 NDA candidates in Bihar are going to win the election. The opposition is not united; their MLAs have been forcefully kept locked up in hotels. We are confident that all five of our candidates are going to win. Several MLAs in the Opposition are also going to support our candidates. We will get to see this in the results."

As voting continues in the Rajya Sabha elections across Bihar, Haryana and Odisha, both NDA and Opposition camps insist they have the numbers needed. With claims of certain victories, worries over cross-voting, three unreachable Congress MLAs in Bihar and allegations of poaching in Odisha, the final picture will emerge only once counting concludes in the evening.