• With the term of eight members of the Rajya Sabha — two from Assam and six from Tamil Nadu — coming to an end in June and July, the Election Commission on Monday announced biennial polls to the seats on June 19.

• According to practice, counting of votes will take place on the same evening.

• The notification for the biennial exercise will be held on June 2.

Members of Rajya Sabha

• Article 80 of the Constitution lays down the maximum strength of Rajya Sabha as 250, out of which 12 members are nominated by the President and 238 are representatives of the states and also of the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry.

• The members nominated by the President are persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service.

• Rajya Sabha is a permanent House and is not subject to dissolution. However, one-third of members of Rajya Sabha retire after every second year. 

• A member who is elected/nominated for a full term serves for a period of six years. 

• Article 84 of the Constitution lays down the qualifications for membership of Parliament. 

• The member should be a citizen of India above 30 years of age and possessing such other qualifications as may be prescribed by law of Parliament.

• The election held to fill a vacancy arising otherwise than by retirement of a member on the expiration of his term of office is called ‘bye-election’. 

• Members of Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of the Assemblies of states and Union Territories in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

• While the nominated members of Rajya Sabha have a right to vote in the election of the Vice-President of India, they are not entitled to vote in the election of the President of India.

Number of Rajya Sabha seats from states/UTs:

1) Andhra Pradesh - 11

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) Jharkhand - 6

11) Karnataka - 12

12) Kerala - 9

13) Madhya Pradesh - 11

14) Maharashtra - 19

15) Manipur - 1

16) Meghalaya - 1

17) Mizoram - 1

18) Nagaland - 1

19) NCT Delhi - 3

20) Odisha - 10

21) Puducherry - 1

22) Punjab - 7

23) Rajasthan - 10

24) Sikkim - 1

25) Tamil Nadu - 18

26) Telangana - 7

27) Tripura - 1

28) Uttar Pradesh - 31

29) Uttarakhand - 3

30) Jammu & Kashmir - 4

31) West Bengal - 16 

In total, eight members are elected from the Union Territories (3 from Delhi, 1 from Puducherry and 4 from Jammu & Kashmir). Other Union Territories are not represented in Rajya Sabha.

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