Rajya Sabha elections

Subject: Polity

Context:

Voting for 18 Rajya Sabha seats which deferred due to the nationwide lockdown held on June 19.

Concept:

• 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.
• Parliament passed a law in 2003 requiring MLAs to show their votes to their party before voting in a Rajya Sabha election, which made it open ballot.
• In 2003, Representation of People Act amended to done away with domicile requirement.
• In 2006, the Supreme Court said that the practice of cross voting would not attract the penalty under the anti-defection law.