Crucial Rajya Sabha polls for 25 seats take place today

Rajya Sabha elections to fill 58 vacancies will be held on Friday. BJP bigwigs such as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are in the fray.

Out of 58 vacancies across 16 states, 33 candidates from 10 states have already been elected unanimously, while voting for the rest 25 will be held in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.

BJP is expected to better its numbers in the Rajya Sabha but will still fall short of the majority in the 245-strong House. Congress is set to further lose seats.

BJP is expected to harness its new state victories in states such as Uttar Pradesh since Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. UP has the maximum of 10 seats, while Maharashtra has six.