Basic facts about Rajya Sabha
- Rajya Sabha is a permanent House and cannot be dissolved.
- One-third of its members retire after every second year, under Article 83(1) of the Constitution, and “biennial elections” are held to fill these vacancies.
- The term of a member is six years.
- Rajya Sabha has 245 seats. No ruling party has ever touched the 100 mark in the last three-and-a-half decades.
- The BJP-led NDA fleetingly touched 100 in April 2022 but its strength is down to 95 now after the retirement of five of the nominated members who had taken BJP membership.
- Out of the 245 members, 12 are nominated by the President and 233 are representatives of the States and Union territories of Delhi and Puducherry.
- Under Article 80(3), the 12 nominated members should have special knowledge or practical experience in matters like literature, science, art etc.
- A nominated member may join a party within six months of taking a seat.
Rajya Sabha election
- Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by MLAs through an indirect election.
- Article 80(4) provides that members shall be elected by the elected members of state Assemblies through a system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.
- The Fourth Schedule to the Constitution provides for allocation of Rajya Sabha seats to the states and Union Territories, on the basis of the population of each state.
- The number of votes a candidate requires depends on the number of vacancies and the strength of the House.
- If there is only one vacancy, the required quota under the Election Commission’s Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, is calculated by taking the number of votes polled, divided it by 2, and adding 1.
- For example, if 200 votes are polled in an Assembly, the Rajya Sabha candidate would need: 200/2 + 1 = 101 votes.
(Source: IE)
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