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Rajya Sabha

Rajya Sabha

Type Upper House The Chairman
Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Independent
since 2007 Majority Leader Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, (INC)
since 2007 Opposition Leader Jaswant Singh, (BJP)
since 2004 Members 250 (238 elected + 12 appointed) Political groups Left Front
NDA
UPA Last elections 2007 Meeting place Sansad Bhavan Web site rajyasabha.nic.in

The Rajya Sabha (meaning the "Council of States") is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature, science, and social services. These members are known as nominated members. The remainder of the body is elected by state and territorial legislatures.

Terms of office are for six years, with one third of the members facing re-election every two years.

The Rajya Sabha meets in continuous session and, unlike the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, is not subject to dissolution. The Rajya Sabha shares legislative powers with the Lok Sabha, except in the area of supply, where the Lok Sabha has overriding powers. In the case of conflicting legislation, a joint sitting of the two houses is held.

The Vice-President of India (currently, Hamid Ansari) is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, who is elected from amongst its members, takes care of the day-to-day matters of the house in the absence of the Chairman.

The Rajya Sabha held its first sitting on 13 May 1952.

Contents

Qualifications required to become a member

To become a member of the Rajya Sabha, a person must definitely be a citizen of India, not less than 30 years of age. He/she should be mentally sound and should not be bankrupt. He/she should also state an affidavit that there are no criminal procedures against him/her. For reserved seats one should be member of scheduled caste or/and tribes. One can also be appointed by the President of India.

Appointment

Members are elected by the Legislative Assembly of Each State. Seats are fixed for each state on the basis of its population, and not equality. The numbers of seats as of 2006 are, according to the official website:

No. State No. of seats 1 Andhra Pradesh18 2 Arunachal Pradesh1 3 Assam7 4 Bihar16 5 Chhattisgarh5 6 Goa1 7 Gujarat11 8 Haryana5 9 Himachal Pradesh3 10 Jammu & Kashmir4 11 Jharkhand6 12 Karnataka12 13 Kerala9 14 Madhya Pradesh11 15 Maharashtra19 16 Manipur1 17 Meghalaya1 18 Mizoram1 19 Nagaland1 20 National Capital Territory of Delhi3 21 Nominated 12 (only 10 seats filled) 22 Orissa10 23 Pondicherry1 24 Punjab7 25 Rajasthan10 26 Sikkim1 27 Tamil Nadu18 28 Tripura1 29 Uttar Pradesh31 (only 30 seats filled) 30 Uttarakhand3 31 West Bengal16

Total: 242 [1]

Elections in within the state legislatures are held using single transferable votes with proportional representation.

Powers

  1. Along with Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha has the right to initiate, pass and amend ordinary bills of law. If there is a conflict which cannot be resolved even by the joint committee of the two Houses, it is solved in the joint session of the Parliament, where the will of the Lok Sabha almost always prevails, since the Lok Sabha is more than twice as large as the Rajya Sabha.
  2. Consultative Power in money bills (taxation and spending), which can originate only in the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha cannot delay it for more than fourteen days, nor amend it against the will of the Lok Sabha, otherwise the bill will be deemed to be passed by both the houses and sent to the President for assent.
  3. Equal Powers with the Lok Sabha in initiating and passing any Bill for Constitutional Amendment (by a majority of the total membership of the House and at least two-thirds majority of the members present and voting).
  4. Equal Powers with the Lok Sabha in initiating and passing a motion for the impeachment of the President(indians,by two-thirds of the membership of the House)
  5. Equal Powers with the Lok Sabha in initiating and passing a motion for the impeachment of the judges of the Supreme Court and the state High Courts (by a majority of the membership of the House and two-thirds majority of the members present and voting)
  6. Equal Powers with the Lok Sabha in initiating and passing a resolution declaring war or national emergency or constitutional emergency in a state.
  7. If the Lok Sabha is dissolved before or after the declaration of a National Emergency, the Rajya Sabha becomes the sole de facto and de jure Parliament. It, of course, cannot be dissolved.
  8. Sole power to declare by two-thirds majority if a subject in the jurisdiction of the states has assumed national importance, thereby enabling the Union to legislate on it.
  9. No power to cause the dismissal or resignation of the Prime Minister or any minister, this being the sole prerogative of the Lok Sabha (caused by its simple majority). But power to ask questions from the ministers retained.

Membership

Main article: Members of Rajya Sabha

Election

The members of the Rajya Sabha from each state are elected by the members of the Legislature or the Legislative Assembly of that state by means of proportional representation through the Single Transferable Vote System. The representatives of the Union Territories are chosen in such manner as may be decided or prescribed by the Parliament from time to time.

Leadership of the Rajya Sabha

As of 2006

Elected Members

There are 238 elected members, who represent the 28 states and 7 Union Territories,including the National Capital territory, New Delhi. Seats are allotted to them on the basis of their population. For example, Uttar Pradesh with a population of nearly 16 crores is represented in the Rajya Sabha by 31 members, which is the largest.

Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura send only one member each to the Rajya Sabha.

Nominated Members

Under article 80 of the Constitution, out of the 250 members, of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) 12 are nominated by the President of India from amongst persons who have special knowledge or practical experience in the fields such as literature, science, art or social service.

Since its inception in 1952, 105 members have been nominated so far, for a term of 6-year each, and with an added provision that one-third of the members shall retire every two years [2].

References

  1. ^ Alphabetical List of All Members of Rajya Sabha, Since 1952 RAJYA SABHA website.
  2. ^ Rajya Sabha Practice and Procedure Series Nominated Members of Rajya Sabha.

Further Reading

See also

External links

Categories: Parliament of India | National upper houses | Rajya Sabha

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