Rajya Sabha Elections | 19 Feb 2026

Source: TH  

Why in News?  

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced the schedule for biennial elections to fill 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 States.

What are the Key Facts About the Rajya Sabha?

• Rajya Sabha: Council of States i.e. Rajya Sabha is the Upper House of the Indian Parliament.  
  • Rajya Sabha consists of the representatives of the States and the Union Territories and persons nominated by the President of India. 
• Constitutional Provisions: Article 80 of the Constitution fixes the maximum strength of the Rajya Sabha at 250, including 12 members nominated by the President for expertise in fields like literature, science, art, and social service.  
  • At present, the House has 245 members (233 representing States and Union Territories (Delhi, Puducherry, and Jammu & Kashmir) and 12 nominated members). 
• Allocation of Seats:  Seats are allocated to States/UTs based on population as per the Fourth Schedule. 
• Eligibility:  Article 84 of the Constitution lays down the qualifications for membership of Parliament.  
  • To be eligible for the Rajya Sabha, a person must be a citizen of India, take an oath or affirmation before a person authorized by the Election Commission as per the Third Schedule, be at least 30 years of age, and possess any additional qualifications prescribed by Parliament through law. 
• Tenure: The Rajya Sabha is a permanent House and is not subject to dissolution; one-third of its members retire every two years, and each serves a six-year term. 
  • Bye-elections are held to fill vacancies caused by resignation, death, or disqualification, and the elected member serves only the remainder of the original term. 
  • Under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a member elected to fill a casual vacancy serves only for the remainder of their predecessor’s term. 
• Chair: The Vice-President of India acts as the ex-officio Chairperson of the House. 

Process for Election 

• Election Mechanism: Members are elected by Indirect Election by the elected members of Legislative Assemblies of States and UTs respectively, in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. 
  • Under this mechanism, MLAs do not vote for a single candidate but instead rank candidates in order of preference (1, 2, 3, etc.) on a ballot.  
    • To be declared elected, a candidate must secure a specific quota of votes. 
    • If a candidate secures surplus votes beyond the required quota, those votes are transferred to the next preferred candidate at a diminished value.  
  • Similarly, if seats remain vacant, the candidate with the lowest votes is eliminated, and their votes are redistributed to the remaining contestants based on subsequent preferences. 
• Electoral College: Only the Elected Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) of the States and UTs. 
• Domicile Requirement: 
  • Pre-2003: A candidate had to be a resident of the state from which they were contesting from. 
  • Post-2003: A candidate can be an elector from any parliamentary constituency in India. (Removed by the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 2003). 
• "Open Ballot" System:  Voting is not secret for MLAs belonging to political parties. 
  • Every MLA from a political party must show their marked ballot to the party’s authorized agent before dropping it in the box, aiming to prevent cross-voting and corruption (money power).  
    • Independent MLAs do not show their ballot to anyone. 
• Anti-Defection: The Supreme Court has ruled that voting against the party whip in a Rajya Sabha election does not attract disqualification under the 10th Schedule (Anti-Defection Law). 
  • The party can take disciplinary action (suspension/expulsion), but the MLA retains their assembly seat. 
• NOTA: The Supreme Court scrapped the 'None of the Above' (NOTA) option for Rajya Sabha elections in 2018 (Shailesh Manubhai Parmar vs. Union of India). 
  • NOTA defeats the principle of proportional representation and the single transferable vote.