# 2017 Rajya Sabha elections

Elections were held in India on 21 July and 8 August 2017 as nomination contests by state legislators routinely for ten members of the Rajya Sabha across three states, replacing those who retired in July and August 2017. The State Legislatures which contribute in this six-year minor elections/nomination cycle are Goa, Gujarat and West Bengal. The mechanism is the single transferable vote (STV) among legislators, meaning nominations may be unopposed contests (commonly in states with an absolute majority for a particular party in its legislative, public elections). The open ballot is used rather than secret ballot, allowing public scrutiny.
The year also saw five by-elections one of which saw a state's co-representative change, owing to a change in the make-up of the relevant legislature in the intervening three years.
The 2017 six-yearly cycle is of great importance to Goa, where its sole Rajya Sabha member is chosen by its current legislators; 3 of 11 members for Gujarat and 6 of 16 members are also so elected (see cross-party nomination contests) in this cycle.
The outcome in party terms, which tends to reflect the current popular political make-up of the relevant legislatures, was primarily no change (12 of the 15 seats involved in 2017). The other three seats to reflect state political changes were two intervening sufficient mathematical state gains in support for the VJP at state elections, at the expense of the INC entitling two VJP nominations rather than INC and one state gain in support (sufficient proportional representation swing) for the AITC which had cost the Communist Party of India (Marxist), specifically in West Bengal.

## Members retiring

The following members retired in 2017.
| State | Retiring MP | Party | Date of retirement |
| Goa | Shantaram Naik | INC | 28 July 2017 |
| Gujarat | Ahmed Patel | INC | 18 August 2017 |
| Gujarat | Smriti Irani | BJP | 18 August 2017 |
| Gujarat | Dilip Pandya | BJP | 18 August 2017 |
| West Bengal | Sukhendu Sekhar Roy | AITC | 18 August 2017 |
| West Bengal | Derek O'Brien | AITC | 18 August 2017 |
| West Bengal | Debabrata Bandyopadhyay | AITC | 18 August 2017 |
| West Bengal | Dola Sen | AITC | 18 August 2017 |
| West Bengal | Sitaram Yechury | CPI(M) | 18 August 2017 |
| West Bengal | Pradip Bhattacharya | INC | 18 August 2017 |

## Members elected
### Goa

Goa's main party in its legislature saw its nomination contest for Goa's sole seat on July 21, 2017.
| Seat No | Former MP | Former Party | Former Party | Elected MP | Elected Party | Elected Party | Reference |
| 1 | Shantaram Naik | | INC | Vinay Tendulkar | | BJP | |

### Gujarat

Gujarat had an election for 3 Rajya Sabha seats on August 8, 2017.
| Seat No | Former MP | Former Party | Elected MP | Elected Party |
| 1 | Smriti Irani | BJP | Smriti Irani | BJP |
| 2 | Dilip Pandya | BJP | Amit Shah | BJP |
| 3 | Ahmed Patel | INC | Ahmed Patel | INC |

### West Bengal

West Bengal had elected the 6 Rajya Sabha seat unopposed.
| Seat No | Former MP | Former Party | Elected MP | Elected Party |
| 1 | Derek O'Brien | AITC | Derek O'Brien | AITC |
| 2 | Dola Sen | AITC | Dola Sen | AITC |
| 3 | Sukhendu Sekhar Roy | AITC | Sukhendu Sekhar Roy | AITC |
| 4 | Debabrata Bandyopadhyay | AITC | Manas Bhunia | AITC |
| 5 | Sitaram Yechury | CPI(M) | Shanta Chhetri | AITC |
| 6 | Pradip Bhattacharya | INC | Pradip Bhattacharya | INC |

## By-elections

In addition to scheduled elections, unforeseen vacancies, caused by members' resignation or death, may also be filled via By-elections.

### West Bengal

* On 29 December 2016, Mithun Chakraborty, a Trinamool Congress member from West Bengal, resigned his seat, citing health reasons.
| S.No | Former MP | Party | Party | Date of Vacancy | Elected MP | Party | Party | Date of appointment | Date of retirement |
| 1 | Mithun Chakraborty | | All India Trinamool Congress | 29 Dec 2016 | Manish Gupta | | All India Trinamool Congress | 2 March 2017 | 3 April 2020 |

### Odisha

* On 21 March 2017, Bishnu Charan Das of Odisha resigned after he was appointed as Deputy Chairman of Odisha State Planning Board.
| S.No | Former MP | Party | Party | Date of Vacancy | Elected MP | Party | Party | Date of appointment | Date of retirement |
| 1 | Bishnu Charan Das | | Biju Janata Dal | 21 March 2017 | Pratap Keshari Deb | | Biju Janata Dal | 18 May 2017 | 1 July 2022 |

### Manipur

* On 28 February 2017, Manipur representative Haji Abdul Salam died.
| S.No | Former MP | Party | Party | Date of Vacancy | Elected MP | Party | Party | Date of appointment | Date of retirement |
| 1 | Haji Abdul Salam | | Indian National Congress | 28 February 2017 | Bhabananda Singh | | Bharatiya Janata Party | 25 May 2017 | 9 April 2020 |

### Madhya Pradesh

* On 18 May 2017, Anil Madhav Dave, a Bharatiya Janata Party member from Madhya Pradesh died.
| S.No | Former MP | Party | Party | Date of Vacancy | Elected MP | Party | Party | Date of appointment | Date of retirement |
| 1 | Anil Madhav Dave | | Bharatiya Janata Party | 30 June 2016 | Sampatiya Uike | | Bharatiya Janata Party | 1 August 2017 | 29 June 2022 |

### Rajasthan

* On 10 August 2017, Venkaiah Naidu's resigned from membership of the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan, due to his election as the Vice President of India.
| S.No | Former MP | Party | Party | Date of Vacancy | Elected MP | Party | Party | Date of appointment | Date of retirement |
| 1 | Venkaiah Naidu | | Bharatiya Janata Party | 10 August 2017 | Alphons Kannanthanam | | Bharatiya Janata Party | 9 November 2017 | 4 July 2022 |