Rajya Sabha Polls Today: The stage is all set for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections amid concern about cross-voting by Congress and the Samajwadi Party MLAs. Out of 56 seats, as many as 41 were elected unopposed while the polling on the remaining 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, four in Karnataka and one in Himachal Pradesh will take place today. The voting will begin at 9 AM today.

Rajya Sabha Biennial Elections: Here Are Key Points

- Today's polls are expected to be significant as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party looks to consolidate its power in the Upper House of Parliament.

- 41 candidates including former Congress President Sonia Gandhi, BJP leader JP Nadda, Ashok Chavan, and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan have already been elected unopposed.

- With the BJP fielding eight candidates and the opposition SP fielding three for the 10 Rajya Sabha seats, the stage is set for a heated electoral contest in Uttar Pradesh.

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- In the 403-member state assembly, the BJP and the SP hold the majority of 252 and 108 MLAs, respectively. The SP's alliance partner, the Congress, holds two seats. 13 seats are held by the BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal), six by the NISHAD Party, nine by the RLD, six by the SBSP, two by Jansatta Dal Loktantrik, and one by the BSP. Four seats are currently vacant.

- The BJP has fielded former Union minister RPN Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, senior state leader Amarpal Maurya, former minister Sangeeta Balwant (Bind) party spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi, former MLA Sadhna Singh and former Agra mayor Naveen Jain. BJP's eighth candidate is Sanjay Seth, a former member of the SP and an industrialist.

- Actor-MP Jaya Bachchan, former IAS officer Alok Ranjan, and Dalit leader Ramji Lal Suman are the candidates put forth by the Samajwadi Party.

- Fearing cross-voting, all parties have sent whips to the MLAs, who will cast ballots in Tuesday's election. In Karnataka, the Congress has 134 MLAs, the BJP has 66, and JD (S) 19, while others account for four.

- With the support of three independent MLAs, Congress has a clear majority with 40 out of 68 MLAs in Himachal Pradesh. Despite the fact that the BJP, with 25 MLAs, is far behind in the number game, it has forced a contest by fielding Mahajan against Singhvi.

(With Agencies Inputs)