indian polity book series 21

Indian Polity - Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha

Rajya Sabha (Council of States)

Identify the incorrect statement regarding Rajya Sabha. (2) (APSI - 2018)

1. 229 members are elected to the Rajya Sabha only from the states.
2. One member is elected to Rajya Sabha from the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
3. One member is elected to Rajya Sabha from the Union Territory of Puducherry.
4. There is no reservation for SCs and STs in the Rajya Sabha.

Top 5 states with the highest number of seats in Rajya Sabha:

• Uttar Pradesh - 31
• Maharashtra - 19
• Tamil Nadu - 18
• Bihar - 16
• West Bengal - 16

States - Rajya Sabha Seats

State	Seats	State	Seats
1. Uttar Pradesh	31	12. Kerala	9
2. Maharashtra	19	13. Assam	7
3. Tamil Nadu	18	14. Punjab	7
4. Bihar	16	15. Telangana	7
5. West Bengal	16	16. Jharkhand	6
6. Karnataka	12	17. Chhattisgarh	5
7. Andhra Pradesh	11	18. Haryana	5
8. Gujarat	11	19. Jammu & Kashmir	4
9. Madhya Pradesh	11	20. Himachal Pradesh	3
10. Rajasthan	10	21. Uttarakhand	3
11. Odisha	10	22. Tripura	1
		23. Arunachal Pradesh	1
		24. Manipur	1
		25. Meghalaya	1
		26. Mizoram	1
		27. Nagaland	1
		28. Goa	1
		29. Sikkim	1

Jammu and Kashmir lost its statehood on October 1, 2019, and is now acting as a Union Territory.

Rajya Sabha Seats in Union Territories:

• Jammu & Kashmir (4), Delhi (3), Puducherry (1)

States with the least number of (1) seat in Rajya Sabha are Goa, 6 North-Eastern states (excluding Assam), and Sikkim.

Number of Rajya Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh is 11.

States with same number of seats as Andhra Pradesh are Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh.

Number of Rajya Sabha seats in Telangana are 7.

States having the same number of Rajya Sabha seats as Telangana: Punjab, Assam.

How many Rajya Sabha seats did united Andhra Pradesh have? 18

Union territory with least number of Rajya Sabha seats: Puducherry (1)

Which schedule specifies the allocation of Rajya Sabha seats to the states? - Schedule IV.

According to Article 80(2), the President nominates 12 members to the Rajya Sabha who have special experience in literature, arts, science, and social service.

Rajya Sabha Nominated Members List

S.No	Name	Field	Party	Nominated Year
1	Sri Ram Shakal	Social Service	BJP	14.7.18
2	Rakesh Sinha	Literature	BJP	14.7.18
3	Raghunath Mohapatra	Arts	BJP	14.7.18
4	Suresh Gopi	Arts	BJP	25.4.16
5	Sri Ranjan Gogoi	Law	-	19.3.2020
6	Swapan Dasgupta	Journalism	-	25.4.16
7	Mary Kom	Sports	-	25.4.16
8	Narendra Jadhav	Economics	-	25.4.16
9	Subrahmanyam Swamy	Economics	BJP	25.4.16
10	Sonal Mansingh	Arts	BJP	14.7.18
11	Shambhaji Raje Chhatrapati	Social Service	BJP	7.6.16
12	Roopa Ganguly	Arts	BJP	4.10.16

Before taking the office of the President, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha - Zakir Husain (1952).

How many sportspersons are currently nominated members of the Rajya Sabha - Mary Kom.

Elections to Rajya Sabha do not take place on the basis of constituencies.

Rajya Sabha members represent the states.

Rajya Sabha members are elected by the state legislators in the proportional representation system with a single transferable vote.

Open voting system is used in election of (2)

1. Lok Sabha
2. Rajya Sabha
3. State Legislative Assembly
4. Gram Panchayat

Secret Ballot is not used in which of the following election

1. Lok Sabha Members
2. State Legislative Assembly Members
3. Rajya Sabha Members
4. Panchayat Sarpanch

Rajya Sabha members- Qualifications:

• Should be an Indian citizen.
• Should not be less than 30 years old.
• Note: There is no upper age limit.

It's not necessary that one has to be from perticular state to contest for Rajya Sabha from that state.

Note:

1. It means that a person from any state can contest for the Rajya Sabha from another state.
2. In the Representation of the People Act, 1951, there was a condition that a candidate contesting for Rajya Sabha should be an ordinary voter in the state from which he is contesting. In 2003, this was amended to allow a person from any state to contest for Rajya Sabha from another state.

Ex: Suresh Prabhu, though not a resident of our state, was elected to Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh.

Disqualifications (Article 102) :

• A member cannot be a member of both houses of Parliament at the same time. If so, he has to resign from membership in one of the houses.
• If a member is simultaneously elected to Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, he must inform his decision within 10 days, otherwise, he will lose his Rajya Sabha membership.
• If a member of one house is elected to another house, he loses his membership in the house to which he was elected earlier.
• If a candidate contests in two seats and wins in both, he must inform his choice within 10 days, otherwise, he will lose membership in both seats.

Salaries (Section 106):

The salaries of the members of Parliament, as per the new law that came into force from April 1, 2018

• Monthly salary of a Member of Parliament - Rs. 1,00,000
• Constituency Allowance - Rs. 60,000
• Allowances for offices and other expenses - Rs. 1,00,000
• Pension per month - Rs. 25,000

Parliament salaries will be increased again after 5 years in 2023.

The house where a non-member is the presiding officer (2) (AP Constable-2019)

1. Lok Sabha
2. Rajya Sabha
3. Legislative Council
4. Legislative Assembly

Who presides over the Rajya Sabha meetings? (3) (AP Constable-2016)

1. Speaker
2. Deputy Speaker
3. Vice President of India
4. President of India

Rajya Sabha Chairman:

According to Article 89, the Vice President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

The Vice President is not a member of Rajya Sabha, but presides over the Rajya Sabha.

The members of Rajya Sabha do not elect the Rajya Sabha Chairman.

The Rajya Sabha members elect one of themselves as the Deputy Chairman. (Current Deputy Chairman - Harivansh Narayan Singh).

The Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman submits his resignation to the Chairman.

If the office of the Rajya Sabha Chairman is vacant for any reason, the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman performs the duties as the Chairman.

If the Chairman is absent from the Rajya Sabha meetings, the Deputy Chairman presides, and if the Deputy Chairman is also absent, one of the Panel Chairmen presides over the Rajya Sabha.

When the resolution for the removal of the Vice President and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman is under consideration of the Rajya Sabha, those on whom the resolution has been introduced should not preside over the House.

The Rajya Sabha Chairman can participate in the discussions when the resolution for the removal of the Vice President is being discussed in the Rajya Sabha but cannot vote.

Powers of Rajya Sabha:

• Rajya Sabha has equal powers with Lok Sabha in the case of ordinary bills.
• It can review the bills passed by the Lok Sabha and can approve (or) reject (or) send them back with amendments for reconsideration.
• Rajya Sabha has equal powers with Lok Sabha in the case of impeachment of the President.
• Rajya Sabha members are also members of the electoral college that elects the President and Vice President, just like the Lok Sabha members.
• Rajya Sabha has equal powers with Lok Sabha in constitutional amendments.
• Constitution amendment bills can be introduced in either House first.

To create a new All India Service in India, what is required? (3) (AP SI-2018)

1. Approval of a resolution by a 2/3rd majority in the Lok Sabha.
2. Approval of a resolution by a 2/3rd majority in Parliament.
3. Approval of a resolution by a 2/3rd majority in the Rajya Sabha.
4. Executive Order of the President of India.

Special Powers of Rajya Sabha:

• The resolution to remove the Vice-President must first be introduced in the Rajya Sabha. - Article 67
• According to Article 249, if the Rajya Sabha deems that any item in the State List is of national importance and passes a resolution with a 2/3rd majority for Parliament to make a law on that item, Parliament can make a law on that item.

Note: The law made in this way will be in force for 1 year. If Rajya Sabha passes a resolution again, it can be extended for another year.

• Only Rajya Sabha has the power to create new All India Services according to Article 312. If Rajya Sabha passes a resolution with a 2/3rd majority, Parliament makes a law to that effect.

The Panel Chairmen in the Rajya Sabha are appointed by the Rajya Sabha Chairman. Their number is 6.

The Rajya Sabha Chairman cannot vote on resolutions made by the Rajya Sabha. But he can cast a casting vote in case of a tie on a bill.

The Rajya Sabha Chairman cannot preside over the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.

Following the Indian Constitution, reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is not provided for which of the following? (4) (AP Constable-2018)

1. Lok Sabha
2. State Legislative Assembly
3. Panchayat Institutions
4. Rajya Sabha

Quorum:

According to Article 100(3), to hold meetings and conduct proceedings in both Houses of Parliament, 1/10th of the total members of the House must be present. This is called Quorum. If there is no quorum, the Speaker has the power to adjourn the House.

Salary of Rajya Sabha Chairman - Rs. 4,00,000

Reservations do not apply to Rajya Sabha seats.

In the Constitution, there is no mention of Panel Chairmen and Temporary Chairmen. They are mentioned in the Rules of Procedure of Parliament.

Central Ministers can attend both Houses. They can introduce bills in any House. They can participate in discussions. But during voting, they have to vote only in the House in which they are members.

If the posts of Rajya Sabha Chairman and Deputy Chairman are vacant at the same time, Panel Chairmen cannot preside. In that case, the person appointed by the President presides over the House.

Rajya Sabha	First	Current
Rajya Sabha Chairman	S. Radhakrishnan	M. Venkaiah Naidu
Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman	Krishnamurthy Rao	Harivansh Narayan Singh
Leader of Rajya Sabha	Gopalaswami Ayyangar	Thawar Chand Gehlot
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha	Kamalapati Tripathi	Mallikarjun Kharge (from February 12, 2021)
Rajya Sabha Secretary General	S.N. Mukherjee	Desh Deepak Verma

The person who served as the Leader of the Rajya Sabha for the longest time - Manmohan Singh.

Woman who was a nominated member of Rajya Sabha and became the Prime Minister - Indira Gandhi.

Lok Sabha (House of the People)

Lok Sabha, the lower house, is the representative body of the people of the country. In Hindi, Lok means people.

In the original Constitution, 'House of People' was used to refer to Lok Sabha.

Lok Sabha is not a permanent house. Elections to Lok Sabha are held once every 5 years.

'Father of Indian Lok Sabha' is called G.V. Mavalankar.

The lower house was named as Lok Sabha by G.V. Mavalankar (1954).

The Council of Ministers is not responsible to the Rajya Sabha.

Even those elected as ministers from the Rajya Sabha are responsible only to the Lok Sabha.

The members of the Rajya Sabha do not have the power to introduce a no-confidence motion against the Union Cabinet.

Conclusion: Although the Rajya Sabha has somewhat lesser powers compared to the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha also has importance in the legislative process. The Upper House plays its part in reconsidering the laws made by the Lower House in haste and making appropriate laws. It strengthens the federal character by representing the states. It is noteworthy that there is criticism that it has only been used as a platform for political rehabilitation after independence.

The first general elections to the Lok Sabha in India were held in the year 1952.

The first Lok Sabha was formed - April 2, 1952.

The first Lok Sabha met - May 13, 1952.

The first Lok Sabha election process started on December 15, 1951, and lasted for 100 days.

Those who win a majority in the Lok Sabha form the government.

Which of the following statements is correct?

(1) (Telangana Constable-2019)

1. Bihar has forty Lok Sabha constituencies.
2. Goa has one Lok Sabha constituency.
3. Madhya Pradesh has twenty-eight Lok Sabha constituencies.
4. Meghalaya has three Lok Sabha constituencies.