Question

What is the difference in the term of office between the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha?

Answer 1

Hint:The Rajya Sabha is a permanent house and is not subject to dissolution even if the ruling party is no longer in power. The Lok Sabha is a temporary house and gets dissolved when the ruling party changes.

Complete answer:
The Rajya Sabha has 245 members, out of which 233 members are elected by the state legislatures and 12 members are appointed by the President himself. The Lok Sabha currently has 543 seats. This number is representative of the population of the nation and hence it keeps increasing with increase in the population (there were 500 seats in Lok Sabha in 1950).

The Rajya Sabha –The term of office for any member of the Rajya Sabha is of six years. Rajya Sabha is a permanent body and does not get dissolved when the ruling parties change.
However, in every two years, 33% of the members of this house retire. The members who retire are those members who have completed their six-year term in the house. Once they retire and leave vacant seats in the Rajya Sabha, they can again apply for re-election to the Rajya Sabha for any number of times. These elections and nominations take place in the beginning of every third year.

Lok Sabha – Unlike the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha is not a continuous body. It has a term of five years after which it automatically dissolves. These five years are counted from the day when it first meets after the elections. However, the President has the authority to dissolve the Lok Sabha and this authority cannot be challenged in court.
Moreover, the term of the Lok Sabha can also be increased in case of a National Emergency. During this period of emergency, the term of the Lok Sabha can be extended for any length of time, one year at a time. Once the Emergency has ceased to operate, the Lok Sabha cannot continue beyond a period of six months.

Note:- The Constitution of India has not provided a fixed term for the Rajya Sabha (because Rajya Sabha was founded 2 years after the adoption of the Indian Constitution).
- Therefore, the Parliament in the Representation of the People Act (1951) provides that the term of office of a member of Rajya Sabha shall be of six years.
- The act allows the President to amend the term of the house in future.