1/21/2016 Election to Rajya Sabha : The Procedure ­ Clear IAS

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Election to Rajya Sabha : The Procedure

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At this time, when newspapers and television channels are

full of Loksabha election updates, let us have quick look at
the election procedure at the other house – the upper house,
Rajya Sabha – also known as the Council of States. Procedure
for Rajya sabha elections  are more complex when compared IAS BOOKS: BEST SELLERS:
to Loksabha elections. CLICK TO BUY!

Why Rajya Sabha or Council of States?

A single directly elected House, was considered inadequate

to meet the challenges before free India by the Constituent
Assembly.  A second chamber known as the ‘Council of
States’, therefore, was created with altogether different
composition and method of election from that of the directly
elected House of the People.  It was meant to be the federal
chamber i.e., a House elected by the elected members of
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1/21/2016 Election to Rajya Sabha : The Procedure ­ Clear IAS

Assemblies of the States and two Union Territories in which

 States were not given equal representation (unlike many
other federal countries).  Apart from the elected members,
provision was also made for the nomination of twelve
members to the House by the President.

Composition of Rajya Sabha

Article 80 of the Constitution lays down the maximum

strength of Rajya Sabha as 250, out of which 12 members are
nominated by the President and 238 are representatives of
the States and of the two Union Territories.  The present
strength of Rajya Sabha, however, is 245, out of which 233
are representatives of the States and Union territories of
Delhi and Puducherry and 12 are nominated by the
President. The members nominated by the President are
persons having special knowledge or practical experience in
respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social
service.

Allocation of Seats to Rajya Sabha

The Fourth Schedule to the Constitution provides for

allocation of seats to the States and Union Territories in
Rajya Sabha.  The allocation of seats is made on the basis of
the population of each State.  Consequent on the
reorganization of States and formation of new States, the
number of elected seats in the Rajya Sabha allotted to States
and Union Territories has changed from time to time since

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1/21/2016 Election to Rajya Sabha : The Procedure ­ Clear IAS

1952.

Name of State No. of Seats

Andhra Pradesh 18

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

Pondicherry 1

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1/21/2016 Election to Rajya Sabha : The Procedure ­ Clear IAS

Punjab 7

Rajasthan 10

Sikkim 1

Tamil Nadu 18

Tripura 1

Uttar Pradesh 31

Uttarakhand 3

West Bengal 16

Process of Rajya Sabha Election

The representatives of the States and of the Union Territories

in the Rajya Sabha are elected by the method of indirect
election.  The representatives of each State and two Union
territories are elected by the elected members of the Recommended list of IAS
Legislative Assembly of that State and by the members of the
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Electoral College for that Union Territory, as the case may be,
in accordance with the system of proportional Latest IAS Books : New Releases

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Election to Rajya Sabha : Procedure Illustrated
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with an Example

The Rajya Sabha seat quota for each state is fixed as per All Categories

Schedule 4 of the constitution. Elections to 1/3 of these seats Search

occur every 2 years. Let’s take an example of a state where

there is Rajya Sabha election for 3 seats. Let there be only
two parties in the legislative assembly. Party A has 100 seats
and party B has 40 seats. Both parties can field three
candidates each for the three rajya sabha seats.

To win a Rajya Sabha seat, a candidate should get a required

number of votes. That number (quotient) is found out using
the below formula.
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1/21/2016 Election to Rajya Sabha : The Procedure ­ Clear IAS

Quotient = Total number of votes divided by (Number of

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Rajya Sabha seats + 1 ) + 1.
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In the illustrated case, a candidate requires (140/4)+1, ie. 36

6 friends like this
votes to win.

NB: Members don’t vote for each seat. If that had been the
case then only the ruling party representatives would make it
through. Rather, the members give preferences for each
candidate (as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6). If 36 or more members
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choose a candidate as their first choice, he gets elected. So
each new post of ClearIAS.com
the Party B (opposition party in Loksabha assembly) with 40
delivered straight into your
seats can get one member elected, if the members give inbox.
preference for a candidate as first preference. The ruling
party (Party A) on the other hand can get 2 members elected Email Address
(72 votes from their 100 members). Email Address

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6 Responses to "Election to
Rajya Sabha : The Procedure" Search

PULIMADA......(mktr) says: TOP POSTS & PAGES

April 4, 2014 at 1:21 am
UPSC Syllabus – Civil

sir pls explain the “rajya saba members Services Exam Prelims,
of Union Territory is elected by the Mains and Interview
Electoral College for that Union Territory,”. what is this
electoral college consist…… is that the members of
IAS Exam Eligibility:
Legislative Assembly ….for that UT……? PULIMADA……
(mktr) Number of Attempts

and Age Limits

Reply
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PULIMADA......(mktr) says:
IAS Officer?
April 4, 2014 at 1:26 am

IAS Study Materials and

why delhi and pondicheri only have rajya
saba members…………………? is it Notes for FREE!
because both have Legislative Assembly …………?
IAS Books for Civil
Reply
Services Prelims and

Mains Exam Preparation

deepak boora says:

Crack Civil Services in
March 23, 2015 at 12:28 am
First Attempt: Book
dear sir please define the meaning of
Review
electoral college in case ut election

Reply
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1/21/2016 Election to Rajya Sabha : The Procedure ­ Clear IAS

Pratham says:
March 26, 2015 at 3:21 pm

For RS election for UT(its only for 2

UTs Delhi and Pud.)
ele.coll=elected members of legi.assembly.

Reply

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Please exaplain in brief that example.

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