Rajya Sabha Elections: A Fact Sheet

The members are elected indirectly, by elected members of legislative assemblies. Delhi and Puducherry also have representation in the Upper House as the two have their own legislatures. Unlike most federal systems, the number of members returned by each state is roughly in proportion to their population. The minimum age of the members of the Upper House is 30 years as against 25 for the Lower House.

Life of the Upper House The Rajya Sabha is a permanent house not subject to dissolution; 1/3 members retire biennially after six years

Maximum and Current Strength Maximum number: 250. 238 MPs are elected by MLAs; 12 are nominated by the President. Current strength: 245 (233 +12)

New Members are Elected by... The candidates in each state are elected by MLAs of that state through proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote



Nomination to the Upper House Persons should have special knowledge in subjects like literature, science, art and social service etc

Allocation of Seats The Fourth Schedule provides for allocation of seats to states & UTs on the basis of population. The number of elected seats in the Rajya Sabha allotted to states and UTs has changed from time to time since 1952

Single Transferable Vote Procedure Each elector has one vote, irrespective of the number of seats to be filled. The vote is transferable from one candidate to another. The ballot paper bears the candidate names, and the elector marks on it preferences (preference 1, 2, so on). A candidate who comes last is eliminated and his second preference vote is counted in favour of other contestants in cases where a seat is undecided after first round of counting

Quota Minimum number of valid votes required to secure return of a candidate at the election is called quota. If at the end of any count the value of ballot papers credited to a candidate is equal to, or greater than the quota, that candidate is declared elected