2.2. Rajya Sabha

The members of Rajya Sabha are elected indirectly by the elected members of the Legislative Assembly of each state (or an electoral college in case of UTs) by the means of Proportional Representation by single transferable vote. This was done in order to give some representation to minority parties and communities. According to the Supreme Court, Rajya Sabha is not a federal chamber at par with the US Senate. Members do not vote on state lines but on party lines.

♤ The Rajya Sabha polls have a system of open ballot, but it is a limited form of openness. As a measure to check rampant cross-voting, the system of each party MLA showing his or her marked ballots to the party’s authorised agent, before they are put into the ballot box, has been introduced. The independent candidates are barred from showing their ballots to anyone.

♤ The None of the Above (NOTA) option doesn’t apply to the Rajya Sabha polls.

♤ The Supreme Court has ruled that not voting for the party candidate will not attract disqualification under the anti-defection law. As voters, MLAs retain their freedom to vote for a candidate of their choice. However, the Court observed that since the party would know who voted against its own candidate, it is free to take disciplinary action against the legislator concern

♤ Domicile in a state is not a necessary qualification for a person to be elected as a Member of Rajya Sabha from a particular state.

♤ According to the Supreme Court, a member can vote in a Rajya Sabha election even before taking oath as legislator. It said that voting at the Rajya Sabha polls, being a non-legislative activity, can be performed without taking oath. A person becomes a member as soon as the

list of elected members is notified by the ECI. Further, a member can also propose a candidate before taking oath.