The Rajya Sabha, or Council of States, is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Unlike the Lok Sabha, its members are not chosen directly by voters. Understanding how a Rajya Sabha election works helps make sense of the frequent headlines about cross voting and seat arithmetic.
Strength of the house
Article 80 of the Constitution fixes the maximum strength of the Rajya Sabha at 250 members. Of these, up to 238 represent the states and Union Territories, and 12 are nominated by the President for their knowledge or experience in fields such as literature, science, art and social service. The current strength is lower than the maximum, and the official figure is published by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat.
How seats are divided
Seats are allotted to states and UTs in the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution, broadly on the basis of population. Uttar Pradesh has the largest share with 31 seats. Smaller states such as Goa, Sikkim and Mizoram have one seat each.
Who votes
Members of a state’s Rajya Sabha seats are elected by the elected members of that state’s Legislative Assembly. Nominated MLAs and members of the Legislative Council do not vote. For the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry, members of their legislatures form the electoral college.
Also Read: Anti-Defection Law Explained: What the Tenth Schedule Says and When an MLA or MP Is Disqualified
The single transferable vote
Voting happens under proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. Each MLA ranks candidates in order of preference. A candidate needs a fixed quota of votes to win, calculated with a formula based on the number of valid votes and the seats being filled. If a candidate gets more than the quota, surplus votes move to the next preference. This system allows parties to win seats roughly in proportion to their strength in the Assembly.
Open ballot
Since a 2003 amendment to the Representation of the People Act, voting in Rajya Sabha elections uses an open ballot for party MLAs. Each MLA must show the marked ballot to the authorised agent of their party. This was done to reduce cross voting, although the Supreme Court has clarified that voting against the party in this election does not by itself attract disqualification under the anti defection law.
Term and retirement
The Rajya Sabha is a permanent house and is never dissolved. Each member serves six years, and about one third of members retire every two years. That is why elections to the house happen in batches across different states.
Bottom line
A Rajya Sabha election is a contest among MLAs, not voters. The party that controls more seats in a state Assembly usually wins more Rajya Sabha seats from that state, which is why the upper house majority changes slowly after state elections.
Source / स्रोत: Rajya Sabha Secretariat, Election Commission of India
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