Bhubaneswar:  The Election Commission today announced bypolls to three Rajya Sabha seats on July 5, which were vacated by Achyutananda Samanta, Pratap Keshari Deb and Soumya Ranjan Patnaik following their election to Lok Sabha and Assembly.

Notifications will be issued on June 18 and elections and counting of votes will be held on July 5.

In a statement, the commission clarified that the vacancies for bypolls to all Houses, including the Rajya Sabha, are considered "separate vacancies" and separate notifications are issued and separate polls are held, though the schedule can be the same.

While Samanta was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kandhamal, both Deb and Patnaik resigned from Rajya Sabha after they were elected to the State Assembly.

Samanta and Patnaik’s term in the Upper House was set to end in April 2024, Deb, who was elected to Assembly from Aul in Kendrapara was up to July, 2022 respectively.