The Election Commission on Tuesday announced that biennial polls for 55 Rajya Sabha seats that will fall vacant in April will be conducted on March 26. The seats from 17 different states will be vacated between April 2 and 12.

“The term of office of 55 members of the Rajya Sabha elected from 17 states is due to expire on their retirement in April, 2020...” the electoral body’s notice read. The polling will be held between 9 am and 4 pm on March 26.

In its statement, the poll body noted that notifications for the elections will be issued on March 6, and the last date of nominations is March 13. The votes will be counted at 5 pm on the same day of voting, it added.

Maharashtra has the highest number of retiring MPs at seven, followed by Tamil Nadu with six, West Bengal and Bihar with five seats each, Gujarat, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh with four each. The other seats that will fall vacant by April 12 are Assam, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh (three), Jharkhand, Haryana, Telangana, Chhattisgarh (two), Meghalaya, Manipur, Himachal Pradesh (one).