The Election Commission of India has announced that the voting for 56 Rajya Sabha seats, spanning 15 states, including five from Bengal, will take place on February 27.

Polling is slated to take place from 9am to 4pm, and the counting of votes will be held on the same day.

According to the Election Commission's notification, the last date for submitting nominations is scheduled for February 15, while the last day for withdrawal of nomination is February 20.

The election was announced because the tenure of the 50 MPs in the Upper House is set to end on April 2, while a similar number of MPs will retire on April 3.

In Bengal, the terms of four MPs from the Trinamul Congress — Nadimul Haque, Subhashis Chakraborty, Abir Biswas, and Shantanu Sen — along with Abhishek Manu Singhvi from the Congress will end in April for which election will be held on February 27.

Rajya Sabha members are elected based on the proportional representation of the number of legislators in the state Assembly (and centrally administered regions like Delhi and Pondicherry).

Legislators cast their votes to elect members to the Upper House of Parliament.

Given the current party composition in the state Assembly, the Trinamul Congress is poised to win four seats, while one seat may go to the BJP.