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.
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, Hamid Ansari) 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. 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.
In addition, twelve members are nominated by the President of India having special knowledge in various areas like Arts, Science etc. However they are not entitled to vote in Presidential elections as per Article 55 of the Indian Constitution.
Joint sessions of Parliament are a rarity, and have been convened 3 times in last 60 years, the latest being in 2002:
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. 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. 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:
See also List of members of the Rajya Sabha
The following people have been the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha:
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 :-
In the discharge of his constitutional and statutory responsibilities, the Chairman, Rajya Sabha is assisted by the Secretary-General, who holds the rank equivalent 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.
Andhra Pradesh 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 Pondicherry 1 Punjab 7 Rajasthan 10 Sikkim 1 Tamil Nadu 18 Telangana 7 Tripura 1 Uttar Pradesh 31 Uttarakhand 3 West Bengal 16 Total 245
Membership by party
National Democratic Alliance
Seats: 66Bharatiya Janata Party 49 Telugu Desam Party 6 Shiromani Akali Dal 3 Shiv Sena 3 Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party 2 Republican Party of India (Athvale) 1 Bodoland People's Front 1 Naga People's Front 1 United Progressive Alliance
Seats: 70Indian National Congress 64 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 4 Kerala Congress (Mani) 1 Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) 1 Janata Parivar
Seats: 16Janata Dal (United) 13 Indian National Lok Dal 1 Janata Dal (Secular) 1 Rashtriya Janata Dal 1 Other Parties
Seats: 74Samajwadi Party 15 All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 12 All India Trinamool Congress 12 Bahujan Samaj Party 10 Communist Party of India (Marxist) 8 Biju Janata Dal 7 Nationalist Congress Party 6 Communist Party of India 1 Jharkhand Mukti Morcha 1 Sikkim Democratic Front 1 Telangana Rashtra Samithi 1 Nominated 9 Independents 6 Vacant Seats 1 Nominated Seat & 3 Elected Seats 4 Total 245
Officers
Leader of the House
Leader of the Opposition (LOP)
1 Shri Shyam Nandan Mishra December 1969 March 1971 2 Shri M. S. Gurupadaswamy March 1971 April 1972 3 Shri Kamlapati Tripathi 30.3.1977 15.2.1978 4 Shri Bhola Paswan Shastri 24.2.1978 23.3.1978 5 Shri Kamlapati Tripathi 23.3.1978 2.4.1978 6 Shri Kamlapati Tripathi 18.4.1978 8.1.1980 7 Shri Lal Krishna Advani 21.1.1980 7.4.1980 8 Shri P. Shiv Shankar 18.12.1989 2.1.1991 9 Shri M. S. Gurupadaswamy 28.6.1991 21.7.1991 10 Shri S. Jaipal Reddy 22.7.1991 29.6.1992 11 Shri Sikander Bakht 7.7.1992 10.4.1996 12 Shri Sikander Bakht 10.4.1996 23.5.1996 13 Shri S. B. Chavan 23.5.1996 1.6.1996 14 Shri Sikander Bakht 1.6.1996 19.3.1998 15 Dr. Manmohan Singh 21.3.1998 21.5.2004 16 Shri Jaswant Singh 3.6.2004 4.7.2004 17 Shri Jaswant Singh 5.7.2004 16.5.2009 18 Shri Arun Jaitley 3.6.2009 26.5.2014 19 Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad 8.6.2014 Present
Secretariat
Media
See also
Further reading
External links
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