Rajya Sabha



Rajya Sabha is the Upper House of the Indian Parliament. The Rajya Sabha in India has a total of 245 members. Indirect election process is followed at India Rajya Sabha. One third of the members of Rajya Sabha have to retire after a gap of two years. The membership in Rajya Sabha is restricted to 250 members, out of which, 238 members should represent the India states and Indian Union territories, while the Indian President nominates 12 members.

The Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha shares the Legislative powers. In the year 1954, on 23rd August, Hindi classification was adopted for the Rajya Sabha. The members of the Upper House or the Rajya Sabha are elected by each state's Legislative Assembly.

The first Chairman of Rajya Sabha was Dr S. Radhakrishnan. Shri S.V. Krishnamoorthy was the first Deputy Chairman of Indian Rajya Sabha. The Upper House of the Parliament of India is not subject to closure. The Indian Vice President acts as the ex officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha India.

To become a member of Rajya Sabha, the candidate has to be at least 30 years of age. The Rajya Sabha assembles in regular session. The Rajya Sabha is planned to offer constancy and stability to the lawmaking process. In Rajya Sabha there is a board of "Vice Chairmen". The Prime Minister of India appoints the Leader of the House. The leader of the House is the senior most Minister and member of Rajya Sabha.

The present Chairman of Rajya Sabha is Shri Hamid Ansari and the Deputy Chairman is Shri K. Rahman Khan. The nominated members of Rajya Sabha do not possess the power to vote in the Presidential election of India. There are some individual powers of Rajya Sabha:

  1. Rajya Sabha has the right to pass, begin and alter normal bills of law
  2. The Rajya Sabha approves Proclamations if the Lok Sabha stand closed or the termination of the Lok Sabha occurs within the time allowable for the sanction of the Proclamation by the Indian Parliament.
There are four ways to vote in the India Rajya Sabha. They are as follows:

  1. Counting
  2. Voice Vote
  3. Division by going into the Lobbies
  4. Division by automatic vote recorder
To know more about Rajya Sabha, the following link can be used:
Rajya Sabha Chairman



Last Updated on 1st Oct 2012