RAS question
The Rajya Sabha biennial elections held on March 16, 2026 were for seats across how many states, and how many did NDA win?
Correct answer: (D) 10 states, NDA won 22 out of 37 seats.
The Rajya Sabha biennial elections held on March 16, 2026 covered 37 seats across 10 states, and the NDA won 22 of those 37 seats.
Explanation
The Rajya Sabha biennial elections held on March 16, 2026 were for 37 seats falling vacant across Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar. The NDA won 22 of the 37 seats for which elections were conducted. In Bihar, the NDA tally was politically important because it won all five seats there, while the Opposition lost a possible seat after some MLAs stayed away. Twenty-six of the 37 seats had already been filled unopposed, so the final seat outcome matters more than only the polling-day contests.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Eight states is too few, and 18 seats understates the NDA tally recorded for the 37-seat election.
- (B) The election was not spread across 12 states, and the NDA figure was 22 seats, not 25.
- (C) The state count is right at 10, but 15 seats sharply undercounts the NDA's result.
Concept
Rajya Sabha biennial elections connect state Assembly arithmetic with Upper House composition. RAS often asks such current-governance facts because they connect constitutional institutions with live political outcomes.