Rajya Sabha

Rajya Sabha is the Upper House of Parliament. It has not more than 250 members. Members of Rajya Sabha are not elected by the people directly but indirectly by the Legislative Assemblies of the various States. Every State is allotted a certain number of members. No member of Rajya Sabha can be under 30 years of age. Twelve of Rajya Sabha members are nominated by the President from persons who have earned distinction in the fields of literature, art, science and social service. Rajya Sabha is a permanent body. It is not subject to dissolution but one-third of its members retire every two years. Rajya Sabha was duly constituted for the first time on April 3, 1952 and it held its first sitting on May 13, that year. There are at present 245 members in Rajya Sabha, distributed among different States and Union Territories as follows:

(1) Andhra Pradesh 18
(2) Arunachal Pradesh 1
(3) Assam 7
(4) Bihar 16
(5) Chhattisgarh 5
(6) Goa 1
(7) Gujarat 11
(8) Haryana 5
(9) Himachal Pradesh 3
(10) Jammu & Kashmir 4
(11) Jharkhand 6
(12) Karnataka 12
(13) Kerala 9
(14) Madhya Pradesh 11
(15) Maharashtra 19
(16) Manipur 1
(17) Meghalaya 1
(18) Mizoram 1
(19) Nagaland 1
(20) Orissa 10
(21) Punjab 7
(22) Rajasthan 10
(23) Sikkim 1
(24) Tamil Nadu 18
(25) Tripura 1
(26) Uttaranchal 3
(27) Uttar Pradesh 31
(28) West Bengal 16
(29) NCT of Delhi 3
(30) Pondicherry 1
(31) Nominated by the President under 12 Article 80(1)(a) of the Constitution

Important Members of the Rajya Sabha
Chairman & Vice-President of India: Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Deputy Chairman: K. Rahman Khan, Indian National Congress, Karnataka Leader of the House: Dr. Manmohan Singh, Indian National Congress, Assam Leader of the Opposition: Jaswant Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajasthan