Rajya Sabha

Coordinates: 28°37′0″N 77°12′30″E / 28.61667°N 77.20833°E / 28.61667; 77.20833

Rajya Sabha
Council of States

Emblem of India

Type
Type
Term limits
 6 years
Leadership
P. J. Kurien, INC
Since 21 August 2012[1]
Arun Jaitley, BJP
Since 2 June 2014[2]
Ghulam Nabi Azad, INC
Since 8 June 2014[2]
Structure
Seats

245

  • 233 Elected
  • 12 Nominated
3 Vacant (3 Elected Seats)[3]
Political groups

Government coalition (85)
National Democratic Alliance (85)

Opposition Parties (143)
United Progressive Alliance (63)

Janata Parivar Parties (5)

Unaligned Parties (75)

Others (17)

Elections
Single transferable vote
Last election
 21 July and 08 August 2017
Next election
 Indian Rajya Sabha elections, 2018
Meeting place
view of Sansad Bhavan, seat of the Parliament of India
Chamber of Rajya Sabha, Sansad Bhavan,
Sansad Marg, New Delhi, India
Website
rajyasabha.nic.in

The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Membership of Rajya Sabha is limited by the Constitution to a maximum of 250 members, and current laws have provision for 245 members. Most of the members of the House are indirectly elected by state and territorial legislatures using single transferable votes, while the President can appoint 12 members for their contributions to art, literature, science, and social services. Members sit for staggered six-year terms, with one third of the members retiring every two years.[4]

The Rajya Sabha meets in continuous sessions, and unlike the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, is not subject to dissolution. However, the Rajya Sabha, like the Lok Sabha can be prorogued by the President. The Rajya Sabha has equal footing in all areas of legislation with 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 can be held. However, since the Lok Sabha has twice as many members as the Rajya Sabha, the former would normally hold the greater power. Joint sittings of the Houses of Parliament of India are rare, and in the history of the Republic, only three such joint-sessions have been held; the latest one for the passage of the 2002 Prevention of Terrorism Act.

The Vice-President of India (currently, Venkaiah Naidu) is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, who presides over its sessions. The Deputy Chairman, who is elected from amongst the house's 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.[5] The salary and other benefits for a member of Rajya Sabha are same as for a member of Lok Sabha.

Rajya Sabha members are elected by state legislatures rather than directly through the electorate by single transferable vote method.

Qualifications

Article 84 of the Constitution lays down the qualifications for membership of Parliament. A member of the Rajya Sabha must:[6]

In addition, twelve members are nominated by the President of India having special knowledge in various areas like arts and science. However, they are not entitled to vote in Presidential elections as per Article 55 of the Constitution.

Limitations

The Constitution of India places some restrictions on Rajya Sabha which makes Lok Sabha more powerful in certain areas in comparison.

Money bills

Money bills, as defined in the Constitution of India Act 110, can only be introduced in Lok Sabha. When Lok Sabha passes a money bill, and transmits it to Rajya Sabha, Rajya Sabha has only fourteen days to return the bill (with or without amendments) to Lok Sabha. If Rajya Sabha fails to return the bill in fourteen days, that bill is deemed to have passed by both the Houses. Also, if Lok Sabha rejects any (or all) of the amendments proposed by Rajya Sabha, the bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses of Parliament in the form Lok Sabha finally passes it. Hence, Rajya Sabha cannot stall, or amend, a money bill without Lok Sabha's concurrence on the same.[8]

Joint Sitting of the Parliament

Article 108 provides for a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament in certain cases. A joint sitting can be convened by the President of India when one house has either rejected a bill passed by the other house, has not taken any action on a bill transmitted to it by the other house for six months, or has disagreed to the amendments proposed by the Lok Sabha on a bill passed by it. Considering that the numerical strength of Lok Sabha is more than twice that of Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha tends to have a greater influence in a joint sitting of Parliament. A joint session is chaired by the Speaker of Lok Sabha. Also, because the joint session is convened by the President on advice of the government, which already has a majority in Lok Sabha, the joint session is usually convened to get bills passed through a Rajya Sabha in which the government has a minority.

Joint sessions of Parliament are a rarity, and have been convened three times in last 69 years, for the purpose of passage of a specific legislative act, the latest time being in 2002:

No-confidence motion

Unlike the Lok Sabha, a member of the Rajya Sabha cannot bring to the house a no-confidence motion against the government.

Powers

In Indian federal structure, Rajya Sabha is a representative of the States in the Union legislature (Hence the name, Council of States). Hence, Rajya Sabha is granted powers that protect the rights of States against the Union.

Union-States Relations

The Constitution empowers Parliament of India to make laws on the matters reserved for States (States List). However, this can only be done if Rajya Sabha first passes a resolution by two-thirds special majority granting such a power to the Union Parliament. The union government cannot make a law on a matter reserved for states without any authorisation from Rajya Sabha.

Creation of All-India Services

Rajya Sabha, by a two-thirds super majority can pass a resolution empowering the Government of India to create more All-India Services common to both Union and States, including a judicial service.

Membership and composition

Seats are allotted in proportion to the population of people of each state or union territory in such a manner that smaller states have slight advantage over more populous states.[9] In addition, smaller Union Territories, which are not States and which do not have legislatures, do not have representation in Rajya Sabha. Hence, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli do not send any representatives to Rajya Sabha. 12 members are nominated by the President.[10][11]

As per the Fourth Schedule to the Constitution of India on 26 January 1950, the Rajya Sabha was to consist of 216 members of which 12 members were to be nominated by the President and the remaining 204 elected to represent the States.[11] The present strength, however, is 245 members of whom 233 are representatives of the states and union territories and 12 are nominated by the President.[11] The twelve nominated members of the Rajya Sabha are persons who are eminent in particular fields, and are well known contributors in the particular field. A few examples of such nominated persons are cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar, former RBI Governor Bimal Jalan and famous lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar. As of March 2014, each state or union territory specified in the first column of the following table, there shall be allotted the number of seats specified in the second column thereof opposite to that State or that union territory, as the case may be:[12]

Name of state and union territory No. of Seats
Andhra Pradesh[13] 11
Arunachal Pradesh 1
Assam 7
Bihar 16
Chhattisgarh 5
Goa 1
Gujarat 11
Haryana 5
Himachal Pradesh 3
Jammu & Kashmir 4
Jharkhand 6
Karnataka 12
Kerala 9
Madhya Pradesh 11
Maharashtra 19
Manipur 1
Meghalaya 1
Mizoram 1
Nagaland 1
National Capital Territory (Delhi) 3
Nominated 12
Odisha 10
Puducherry 1
Punjab 7
Rajasthan 10
Sikkim 1
Tamil Nadu 18
Telangana[13] 7
Tripura 1
Uttar Pradesh 31
Uttarakhand 3
West Bengal 16
Total 245

Membership by party

Rajya Sabha Secretariat (As of 12 August 2017):[14]

Alliances Party MP
National Democratic Alliance
Seats: 85		 Bharatiya Janata Party 57
Janata Dal (United) 10
Telugu Desam Party 6
Shiromani Akali Dal 3
Shiv Sena 3
Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party 2
Bodoland People's Front 1
Naga People's Front 1
Republican Party of India (A) 1
Sikkim Democratic Front 1
United Progressive Alliance
Seats: 63		 Indian National Congress 57
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 4
Indian Union Muslim League 1
Kerala Congress (M) 1
Janata Parivar
Seats: 5		 Rashtriya Janata Dal 3
Indian National Lok Dal 1
Janata Dal (Secular) 1
Other Parties
Seats: 75		 Samajwadi Party 18
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 13
All India Trinamool Congress 12
Biju Janata Dal 8
Communist Party of India (Marxist) 8
Bahujan Samaj Party 5
Nationalist Congress Party 5
Telangana Rashtra Samithi 3
Communist Party of India 1
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha 1
YSR Congress Party 1
Nominated 8
Independents 6
Vacant Seats 3
Total 245

Officers

Leader of the House

Besides the Chairman (Vice-President of India) and the Deputy Chairman, there is also a position called Leader of the House. This is a cabinet minister - the prime minister if he is a member of the House, or another nominated minister. The Leader has a seat next to the Chairman, in the front row.

Leader of the Opposition

Besides the Leader of the House, who is leading the majority, there is also a Leader of the Opposition (LOP) – leading the minority parties. The function was only recognized in the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of the Opposition in Parliament Act 1977. This is commonly the leader of the largest minority party, and is recognized as such by the Chairman.

The following people have been the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha:

Sr No Name Portrait Term of office Political party
(Alliance)		 Prime Minister
1 Shyam Nandan Mishra December 1969 March 1971 INC (O) Indira Gandhi
2 M. S. Gurupadaswamy March 1971 April 1972
3 Kamalapati Tripathi 30 March 1977 15 February 1978 INC Morarji Desai
4 Bhola Paswan Shastri 24 February 1978 23 March 1978 INC (O)
5 Kamalapati Tripathi 23 March 1978 8 January 1980 INC
Charan Singh
6 Lal Krishna Advani 21 January 1980 7 April 1980 Janata Party Indira Gandhi
7 P. Shiv Shankar 18 December 1989 2 January 1991 INC V. P. Singh
Chandra Shekhar
8 M. S. Gurupadaswamy 28 June 1991 21 July 1991 Janata Dal P. V. Narasimha Rao
9 S. Jaipal Reddy 22 July 1991 29 June 1992
10 Sikander Bakht 7 July 1992 23 May 1996 BJP
11 Shankarrao Chavan 23 May 1996 1 June 1996 INC Atal Bihari Vajpayee
12 Sikander Bakht 1 June 1996 19 March 1998 BJP H. D. Deve Gowda
I. K. Gujral
13 Dr. Manmohan Singh 21 March 1998 21 May 2004 INC Atal Bihari Vajpayee
14 Jaswant Singh 3 June 2004 16 May 2009 BJP Manmohan Singh
15 Arun Jaitley 3 June 2009 26 May 2014
16 Ghulam Nabi Azad 8 June 2014 Incumbent INC Narendra Modi

Secretariat

The Secretariat of Rajya Sabha was set up pursuant to the provisions contained in Article 98 of the Constitution. The said Article, which provides for a separate secretarial staff for each House of Parliament, reads as follows:- 98. Secretariat of Parliament - Each House of Parliament shall have a separate secretarial staff: Provided that nothing in this clause shall be construed as preventing the creation of posts common to both Houses of Parliament. (2) Parliament may by law regulate the recruitment and the conditions of service of persons appointed to the secretarial staff of either House of Parliament.

The Rajya Sabha Secretariat functions under the overall guidance and control of the Chairman. The main activities of the Secretariat inter alia include the following :

(i) providing secretarial assistance and support to the effective functioning of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) possible to Members of Rajya Sabha; (iv) servicing the various Parliamentary Committees; (v) preparing research and reference material and bringing out various publications; (vi) recruitment of manpower in the Sabha Secretariat and attending to personnel matters; and (vii) preparing and publishing a record of the day-to-day proceedings of the Rajya Sabha and bringing out such other publications, as may be required concerning the functioning of the Rajya Sabha and its Committees. In the discharge of his constitutional and statutory responsibilities, the Chairman, Rajya Sabha is assisted by the Secretary-General, who holds the rank equivalent[16] to the Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India. The Secretary-General, in turn, is assisted by senior functionaries at the level of Secretary, Additional Secretary, Joint Secretary and other officers and staff of the Secretariat.

Media

Rajya Sabha Television (RSTV) is a 24 hour a day, seven day a week parliamentary TV channel fully owned and operated by the Rajya Sabha. The channel is aimed at providing in-depth coverage and analysis of parliamentary affairs especially the functioning of and developments related to Rajya Sabha. During sessions of Parliament, apart from telecasting live coverage of the proceedings of Rajya Sabha, RSTV presents incisive analysis of the proceedings of the House as well as other day-to-day parliamentary events and developments.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Parliament of India". Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  2. 1 2 "RAJYA SABHA - AN INTRODUCTION". rajyasabha.nic.in.
  3. ↑ "MEMBERS OF RAJYA SABHA (STATE WISE LIST)". Rajya Sabha.
  4. ↑ Deshmukh, Yashwant (11 June 2016). "Crucial polls today: A guide to calculus of Rajya Sabha for dummies". Firstpost. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  5. ↑ "OUR PARLIAMENT". Indian Parliament. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  6. ↑ "Council of States (Rajya Sabha) - rajyasabha.in".
  7. ↑ "HANDBOOK FOR RETURNING OFFICERS - FOR ELECTIONS TO THE COUNCIL OF STATES AND STATE LEGISLATIVE COUNCILS" (PDF). Election Commission of India. 1992. p. 400-426. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  8. ↑ Wikisource:Constitution of India/Part V#Article 109 .7BSpecial procedure in respect of Money Bills.7D
  9. ↑ "642 Sidharth Chauhan, Bicameralism: comparative insights and lessons". Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT RAJYA SABHA". Indian Parliament. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  11. 1 2 3 "Composition of Rajya Sabha - Rajya Sabha At Work" (PDF). rajyasabha.nic.in. Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Fourth Schedule" (PDF). Ministry of Law. Retrieved 18 May 2015.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. 1 2 "Rajya Sabha members alloted [sic] to Telangana, Andhra Pradesh". The Economic Times. May 30, 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "STRENGTHWISE PARTY POSITION IN THE RAJYA SABHA". Rajya Sabha. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  15. ↑ "About Rajya Sabha TV". Rajya Sabha. Retrieved 19 May 2014.

Further reading

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