Rajya Sabha gears up for biennial election, here is how it works

The biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha will be held today with 15 of the 56 seats that fell vacant up for grabs. Legislators were elected unopposed to the remaining 41 seats.

Rajya Sabha has a total of 250 members, out of which 238 are elected by state legislatures and electoral colleges of Union Territories. A dozen members are nominated by the President.

A Rajya Sabha MP holds a 6-year term, and elections are held for about a third of the upper house every 2 years.

The election is held in accordance with the proportional representation process by means of the single transferable vote. The MLAs don’t vote for each seat. Instead, they have to list different candidates in order of their preference.

To win, a candidate should get a required number of such preference votes. The formula is = [Total number of votes/(Number of Rajya Sabha seats + 1)] + 1.

If any candidate secures enough votes, the surplus is forwarded to the subsequent candidate’s tally with a decreased value.

Unlike the Lok Sabha election, voting for the upper house is done using an open ballot system. The voting MLAs are required to show their votes to an authorized representative elected by their parties.

Unlike the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha is immune from dissolution. This is due to the staggered election cycle. However, the President has the power to prorogue a session of the legislative chamber.

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