RAJYA SABHA ELECTIONS

Recently, elections were scheduled for the 56 seats in the Rajya Sabha. However, only 15 seats from Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh had real competition among candidates because the rest were elected unopposed.

 What is Rajya Sabha? 

1. The Rajya Sabha is one of the two houses of the Parliament of India, the other being the Lok Sabha.
2. It is often called the Upper House or the Council of States, which is headed by the Vice President of India.
3. It represents the states and union territories of India.

Maximum Strength of Rajya Sabha (As per Article 80 and Schedule 4 of the Constitution)	250	238 representing States & UTs
		12 Nominated by President (members with special knowledge or experience in fields such as science, art, literature, and social service)
Present Strength of Rajya Sabha (As per the Representations of People Act, 1951)	245	229 representing States & 4 representing UTs
		12 Nominated by President
Term of the members	6 Years	1/3rd of the total members retire every 2 years and new members are elected. Hence, the Rajya Sabha is never dissolved like the Lok Sabha, making it a permanent House.

How does the Election for Rajya Sabha take place?

1. The elected MLAs of state legislative assembly and assemblies of UTs vote in the Rajya Sabha elections.
2. The elections take place as per the system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote with an open ballot system.
3. System of proportional representation:
   1. Seats are allotted to the states and UTs based on their population. For example, UP has 31 seats, whereas Tripura & Goa have 1 seats each.
   2. Seats are distributed to parties or candidates based on the proportion of votes they receive. This ensures fair representation, unlike the Lok Sabha election in which one who gets more votes in the constituency wins the election.
4. Single transferable vote:
   1. Voters can choose candidates from different parties. They rank candidates in order of preference on the ballot.
   2. Candidates need to secure a certain quota of votes to be elected, calculated based on total valid votes cast and available seats.
   3. 
   4. Surplus votes from candidates who exceed the quota are transferred to the next preferences on the ballot until all seats are filled.
   5. If no candidate meets the quota initially, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are transferred to the next preferences. This process repeats until all seats are filled.
5. Open Ballot System:
   1. These elections are conducted through open ballot, but it is a limited form of openness. To check cross-voting, each party MLA shows his or her marked ballot to the party’s authorised agent before they are put into the ballot box.
   2. Showing a marked ballot to anyone other than one’s own party’s authorised agent will make that vote invalid.
   3. The open ballot system was upheld by the Supreme Court in Kuldip Nayar Case (2006).
6. The MLAs can vote in the Rajya Sabha elections, even if they have not taken the oath.
7. The ‘None of the above (NOTA)’ option is not applicable in Rajya Sabha polls.
8. Violet ink has to be used to mark the vote on the ballot.

Does Anti Defection Law apply in the Rajya Sabha Elections?

1. Not voting for the party candidate will not attract disqualification under the Anti-Defection Act of 1985.
2. The recent disqualification of 6 MLAs of Himachal Pradesh was on the grounds that they abstained from voting on the cut motion and finance bill in the Assembly against the party whip.
3. "Whip" refers to the official instruction or directive issued by the leadership of a political party. The party can call for the disqualification of such an MLA if he/she goes against the whip under the Anti-Defection Act of 1985.

 

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