Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha (Hindi: Rajya Sabha राज्य सभा [ rɑ ː dʒjʌ sʌb ʱ ɑ ] " States Assembly ") is the upper house of the Indian Parliament. It thus forms together with the lower house - the Lok Sabha - the state legislature. Nominally, both houses are equal. In matters of domestic policy, however, the Lok Sabha enjoys a privilege. In case of discrepancies between the two chambers, there is a joint meeting. Since the House has more than twice as many members, it has in fact there as well to determine the power of the main policy content.

Of the 250 members 238 are determined by the legislatures of the states and union territories. Thus, the Rajya Sabha serves as a representation of the member states at EU level. An additional 12 members are appointed by the President of India according to their expertise in specific fields such as science, social work or literature. The term of office of the members shall be six years, with one third elected every two years.

The Rajya Sabha with 250 members, is based on the population size, one of the smallest upper house chambers in the world.