Rajya Sabha – Members, Elections, Composition and Chairman

The Indian Constitution took the idea of bicameralism from the United Kingdom. The British constitution had many impacts on our country and one of the results was the adoption of a bicameral parliament. This simply means the presence of two houses – Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.

They act as the upper and the lower house respectively. The Rajya Sabha becomes the second chamber of the parliament that is responsible for representing the state and union territories of the nation. It protects their interest in case central tries to meddle with their matters. 

It is the place where the bill reaches the first before the president’s approval. The maximum strength of the sabha is 250 people. And there are times when the seats remain vacant. The 4th schedule of the Indian constitution deals with the seat allocation of Rajya Sabha.

They have some important roles to play and have a separate election process. This is separate from the Lok Sabha as that is the lower house of the assembly. We will look at all the elements of Rajya Sabha in detail below.

Composition of Rajya Sabha

• The maximum strength of the sabha is 250 members. 
• Out of these 230 members represent the States & Union Territories of the country.
• The president nominates a total of 12 candidates. 
• The current strength ( 2020 ) is 245 out of which 229 members are state representatives. 
• Total 4 members of the assembly represent the union territories
• The representation in the sabha is unequal and depends on o the population. 
• Higher the state population, the higher the number of seats. 

Rajya Sabha Elections

The election process of Rajya Sabha includes a method of proportional representation. The members of the legislative assembly are responsible for electing them. The Rajya Sabha has three types of representation – 

Representation of States in Rajya Sabha

• The state legislative assemblies elect the members for the sabha under this representation. 
• The election principle that they follow is Proportional Representation. 
• This means that they use the Single Transferable Vote.
• The population is the factor in deciding the number of seats a state would get in sabha.
• Uttar Pradesh has the maximum number of seats with 31 representatives in the sabha. 

Representation of Union Territories in Rajya Sabha

• A special electoral college is created to elect the member from UT for the sabha.
• They use the same method of Proportional Representation and the Single Transferable Vote.
• Only Delhi and Puducherry have seats in the Rajya Sabha out of the 7 union territories. 

Representation of Nominated Members in Rajya Sabha:

The president nominates 12 candidates for Rajya Sabha as they are experts in the fields of –

1. Art
2. Literature
3. Science
4. Social Service

Rajya Sabha Qualifications

Article 84 of the Constitution has certain criteria that an individual should meet to get a Rajya Sabha membership. They are – 

• The candidates must be an Indian citizen.
• Take oath before an authorized person on behalf of the election commission. 
• 30 years of age is the minimum age to apply for candidature. 
• Must have qualifications prescribed by parliament laws. 

Rajya Sabha Disqualifications

Article 102 of the Constitution has certain criteria that disqualify an individual from getting a Rajya Sabha membership. They are – 

• If the individual holds a profit office under the Indian government or any State government without parliament’s declaration. 
• A person with an unsound mind.
• A person who is an undischarged insolvent.
• If any parliament law disqualifies him.
• If he voluntarily takes foreign citizenship. 

Rajya Sabha Chairman 

The Indian vice president acts as the chairman of the Rajya Sabha. He is the coordinator of the upper house. Suspension from the vice president post is the only way to remove him from the Rajya Sabha.

He is practically not a member of the house and doesn’t have voting rights unless there is a tie. He receives his fixed salary from the Consolidated Fund of India. 

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman

While the sabha member elects the deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha. He receives all the power of Chairman of Rajya Sabha when – Seat of chairman falls vacant, when the chairman becomes acting President and when he is absent from sitting.

A majority member signed resolution can remove him from the post but with 14 days prior notice. He is an active member of the house. He doesn’t have voting rights either unless there is a tie.

This becomes null and void in the presence of the chairman. He receives his fixed salary from the Consolidated Fund of India. 

Secretary-General

The Rajya Sabha Chairman appoints the Secretary-General who remains anonymous. He acts as the highest civil servant of the Union. He advises the chairman on parliamentary matters. Also he takes care of Sabha’s administration and records of the house. He directly reports to the chairman. 

Leader of the House

• The Prime Minister of the country usually acts as the leader of the house. 
• He is responsible for coordinating the function between both houses.
• He makes sure that there is an ethical debate in the house.
• Also, He sits in the first row of the chamber and is available for consultation.
• He works closely with the chairman and the opposition leader. 
• He also acts as the spokesperson of the House.

Here is the list of the leader of the house – 

Leader of Opposition 

• His office is of great public importance.
• He is responsible for criticizing and finding faults in the debates and the bill discussion.
• He can question the policy or proposal with no control over implementation.
• The Parliament Act, 1977 gave power and allowance to the leader of the opposition.
• He should be a member of the House.
• Belong to a party that is in opposition to the majority Government 
• The Chairman of Rajya Sabha must recognize him. 

List of Leaders of Opposition 

Here is the list of leaders of the opposition – 

Role of Rajya Sabha

Safety Valve of India’s Federal Polity

The role of bicameralism is important to have federal representation in the country. It acts as the safety valve of the federal system of India. This helps to take off major load from the legislative extension of the government. It maintains the checks and balances scheme with the control of judicial review as well. 

Review and Revaluation Role

The constitution’s main idea to have an upper was to keep a check on the Lower house. In the case of controversial acts, the Rajya Sabha has the power to review and take a call. And they can also control authoritarianism by the majority party by being mind full of both the aspects of a decision. 

A Deliberative Body

The sabha also sees mass debate in case of major issues and thus becomes a deliberative body. This is an extension of the review and revaluation of the Rajya sabha. 

Representing the Vulnerable Sections

The vulnerable section of the society like – women, religious, ethnic, and linguistic minority groups often get sidelined in Lok sabha. Rajya sabha provides an equal representation of these sections. 

Special Powers of Rajya Sabha

• Transfer a topic from the State List to Union List – Article 249.
• Create additional All-India Services – Article 312.
• Endorse Emergency under Article 352 for a limited period.

Issues Related to Rajya Sabha

• The unequal representation of states. This is the reason why countries like the US, Australia are more successful as they provide equal representation to all states in the upper houses.
• There are times when the Lok sabha passes bills in the name of Money bill raising the question of efficacy. Here the Rajya Sabha can only recommend and not amend. If they don’t send in their suggestions in 14 days, the bill gets approved. The Aadhaar Act of 2019 is an example of this. The sabha has very little say in the financial matters of the country.  – Money Bill
• An individual who doesn’t belong to any state can not be a part of this sabha. And the bigger problem is the majority using seats to get their defeated Lok sabha candidates to the upper house. This undermines the Federal character of Rajya Sabha. 
• The member of the sabha has been showing low sincerity towards the decision-making process. The government often takes up a famous personality on board who doesn’t even take this process very seriously. 

Suggestions for Better Rajya Sabha Functioning

• The citizens of the country should elect the members of the Sabha. 
• Reduction in cronyism and patronage appointments.
• Allow equal representation of the states.
• Better nomination procedure for quality discussion. 
• More representation of vulnerable sections. 

Important Rajya Sabha Facts

• The Rajya Sabha Election saw two major changes in 2003. 
• A candidate must be an elector to represent himself in the sabha was removed.
• An open ballot system was put in place instead of a secret ballot system. 
• The Rajya sabha is a continuing chamber and is permanent. 
• It does not have tenure and doesn’t dissolve.
• ⅓ of the members retire every second year.
• Nomination for fresh elections takes place in the third year. 
• Representation of the People Act, 1951 allows issuing an order to retire representatives. 
• The tenure of members is of six years.
• The Sabha meets in continuous sessions. 

Conclusion

The Indian constitution is an important polity topic for all sorts of exams. This may be competitive exams like UPSC, RRB, SSC, or be it university admission examinations. This is because it is responsible for the smooth function of the federal structure of the country.

The candidates are expected to know the structure of the constitution well. The Rajya Sabha is an essential body of the constitution. This article covered key aspects of the sabha with a focus on the election process, rules, and composition.

Reading this article should help aspirants achieve a better score in the exam. Make sure you give it a read for sure.