Present Status
Under Article 80 (4) of the constitution the representatives, of each State in the Council of States shall be elected by the elected members of the Legislative Assembly. Under Article 83 (1), the council of states shall not be subject to dissolution, but as nearly as possible one third of the members thereof shall retire as soon as may be on the expiration of every second year.
Problem:
This resulted in three difficulties:
- As the Rajya Sabha membership gives almost equal powers and privileges compared to Lok Sabha, and it is for six years without fear of termination of membership upon dissolution, the demand for it has gone up. State Legislators are wooed assiduously and money is often paid to purchase votes in Rajya Sabha election.
- Though Rajya Sabha is the Council of States, and is supposed to represent the will of the States at the Union level, in reality Rajya Sabha often represents the composition of the dissolved State legislature and not the current one.
- Rajya Sabha has coequal powers of legislation with Lok Sabha (except on Finance Bills). The government formed with majority support in the House of the People (Lok Sabha) often finds that though Lok Sabha represents the will of the people at a point of time, Rajya Sabha is at loggerheads with Lok Sabha. Almost no legislation can be enacted in the Parliament without the willing cooperation of Rajya Sabha despite people's mandate for a government. This leads to legislative impasse and compels unhealthy back room deals.
Proposal:
One simple way of remedying the situation is by electing all the representatives of a State in Rajya Sabha at one time immediately after the constitution of the State Legislative Assembly. The Rajya Sabha members so elected from a State will be conterminous with the State Legislative Assembly. The Rajya Sabha will thus reflect the will of the people of the State at all times. There will be greater likelihood of its composition being closer to Lok Sabha, facilitating easier passage of legislation.
As the election is held for all members of Rajya Sabha from the State simultaneously immediately after the constitution of the Assembly, there will be reduced chance of money being paid for voting in Rajya Sabha election. Legislators freshly elected by the people are more likely to respect the people's mandate.
