Unlike the Lok Sabha, where members are chosen directly by voters, Rajya Sabha members are elected by MLAs
File image of the Rajya Sabha. ANI
The Rajya Sabha election to fill 57 seats across 15 states is fast approaching.
Ahead of the 10 June polls, which assumes importance both as a prestige battle and coming as it does just a month before presidential elections, parties have unveiled a slew of surprise picks — from media barons to a poet-turned politician and more — in hopes of increasing their odds.
Resort politics is also underway with the Shiv Sena, Congress and BJP sequestering their MLAs in order to leave nothing to chance.
Here’s what you need to know about how the Rajya Sabha and how elections to it are held:
What is the Rajya Sabha?
The Rajya Sabha, or the Upper House of Parliament, is India’s equivalent of the UK’s House of Lords. As per the Constitution, its strength cannot exceed 250.
The Vice-President of India is the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha.
Unlike the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha is a ‘permanent body’ and is never dissolved.
How are members chosen?
The Lok Sabha, or the Lower House of Parliament, has direct elections – its members are chosen directly by voters.
But in the Rajya Sabha, members are chosen through indirect elections – elected members of legislative Assemblies or MLAs vote for members.
How long do the members serve?
Six years.
One-third of seats are up for grabs every two years.
However, vacancies inevitably arise in the interim due to death, disqualification and resignations. These are filled up through bypolls.
As per Section 154 of the Representation of the People Act 1951, a member chosen to fill a casual vacancy will serve for the remainder of his predecessor’s term of office.
How does voting in the Rajya Sabha elections work?
As Rajya Sabha MPs are chosen by MLAs, it stands to reason that parties with a higher strength of MLAs would send more MPs to the Upper House.
But that’s not the case necessarily.
Voting in the Rajya Sabha polls is held under the proportional representation principle with the single transferable vote (STV) system. Each MLA’s vote is counted only once. But MLAs don’t vote for each seat.
Instead, members must list the different candidates in order of preference from 1 to 10. If 10 or more members choose a candidate as their first choice, he or she is elected.
As candidates are elected, the ‘surplus’ votes of MLAs are transferred to the next candidates’ kitty, but with a diminished value. This is important as it allows MLAs to vote for candidates from other parties.
Is it a secret or open ballot?
Open ballot but with a caveat.
To stop cross-voting induced by corruption, each MLA must show his or her vote to an authorised agent of the party.
If an MLA does not show his or her ballot to the agent, the vote cannot be counted.
Independent candidates cannot showing their ballots to anyone.
Nominated members
In addition to elected members, you also have nominated members.
Nominated members, usually icons in fields of sports, music, economics, etc, are chosen by the President of India.
Lata Mangeshkar, Sachin Tendulkar are examples of such high-profile nominated members chosen to serve.
Uttar Pradesh, which sends 31 members to the Rajya Sabha, will have 11 seats falling vacant.
The BJP is looking to contest eight seats.
The last date for filing nominations was 31 May.
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