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In the Rajya Sabha, one-third of the members retire:
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Answer: Option C — Every second year
Detailed Solution
The Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of Parliament. Under Article 83(1), it is a permanent body and is not subject to dissolution. However, as nearly as possible, one-third of its members retire on the expiry of every second year. Their seats are filled by fresh elections and presidential nominations at the beginning of every third year.
The term of office of a member of the Rajya Sabha is six years, as fixed by the Representation of the People Act, 1951. A retiring member can be re-elected or re-nominated any number of times. A member elected to fill a casual vacancy serves only for the remainder of the term of the member he or she replaced.
Composition of the Rajya Sabha (Article 80):
- Maximum strength: 250 members.
- 238 members representing states and Union Territories, elected indirectly.
- 12 members nominated by the President from people with special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service.
- At present, it has 245 seats: 233 elected and 12 nominated.
Members representing states are elected by the elected members of the state Legislative Assemblies, using the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. Seats are allocated to states roughly according to population, as given in the Fourth Schedule. Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of seats (31).
The Vice-President of India is the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha (Article 89). The House also elects a Deputy Chairman from among its members.
The Rajya Sabha has some special powers, such as authorising Parliament to make laws on State List subjects in the national interest (Article 249) and to create new All India Services (Article 312), by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting. It cannot be dissolved, so it ensures continuity in Parliament. The first sitting of the Rajya Sabha was held on 13 May 1952.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Every year and every third year are incorrect.
- ✗Every fifth year is incorrect; the Lok Sabha's normal term is five years.
Quick tip
Remember: Rajya Sabha = permanent body (Article 83), one-third retire every second year, term 6 years, maximum 250 (238 elected + 12 nominated); Vice-President = Chairman; UP has 31 seats.
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Parliament — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Parliament, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the Parliament of India: the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, their composition, powers and officers, sessions, the law-making process, money bills, joint sittings, parliamentary committees, and devices such as question hour, zero hour and the various motions. Typical questions ask about the maximum strength of each house, the minimum age for members, who certifies a money bill (the Speaker), who presides over a joint sitting, and which committee is chaired by a member of the opposition (the Public Accounts Committee, by convention). Note the special powers of the Rajya Sabha under Articles 249 and 312. Practise the Parliament questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.