New Delhi: As many as 43 first-timers are set to enter the Upper House accounting for 72 per cent of vacancies being filled up, the research division of Rajya Sabha has found.
With only 12 retiring members being re-elected and seven more members with past experience of the Upper House returning for another term, the collective experience of the members of Rajya Sabha will drop to only 63 terms, a senior official in the research division of RS Secretariat said.
Against 61 vacancies in 20 states, 42 were already elected unopposed including 28 first-timers.
While 61 retiring members have a total experience of 95 terms ranging from one to four terms in Rajya Sabha, the winners come with a total composite experience of only 32 terms, resulting in a decline in total experience of 63 terms, the official said.
Prominent leaders to enter Rajya Sabha for the first time include Jyotiraditya Scindia, Mallikarjun Kharge, M Thambidurai (former Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha), KC Venugopal and KR Suresh Reddy (Former Speaker of Legislative Assembly of composite Andhra Pradesh state).
The 12 sitting members being re-elected are: Bhubaneswar Kalita (for 5th term), Premchand Gupta (5th term), Tiruchi Shiva (4th term), K Keshava Rao, Biswajit Daimary and Parimal Nathwani (all for 3rd term), Sharad Pawar, Ramdas Athawale, Harivansh, Digvijay Singh, KTS Tulsi and Ramnad Thakur (all for second term), the sources said.
Six members entering Rajya Sabha having been earlier members of the Upper House include GK Vasan, Dinesh Trivedi and Nabam Rabia (all for 3rd term), Deve Gowda, Shibu Soren (expected to win from Jharkhand) and Omkar Singh Lakhawat (expected to win from Rajasthan), both for 2nd term, the sources added.
PTI