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In the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, there are many candidates who are contesting elections outside of there home states. Some of the candiates are Mr. Anil Ambani, and Ms. Jaya Bachchan - both from Mumbai and contesting from UP, Ms. Ambika Soni, and Mr. R K Dhawan - both from Delhi and contesting elections from Punjab and Bihar respectively. The stories of their nomination are reported here, here, and here.
These nominations are setting bad precedent, and are making it look like a back door entry to the parliament. While making provision for Rajya Sabha, our founding fathers clearly envisioned that the Rajya Sabha would act as council of states. Members of which would work to serve the best interest of the states they come from. Unfortunately, these nominations violates the essense of the constitution. How come Mr. Ambani and Ms. Bachchan, both hailing from Mumbai, can serve best interest of UP? Same can be said about Ms. Soni and Mr. Dhawan. All these people do not ordinarily reside (probably they do not even visit) in the states from where they are contesting elections. The article in the Times of India righly points that these contestants are in fact outsiders or non-resident MP's. Probably, it is a high time to make a provision so that only domiciled resident are allowed to contest elections of Rajya Sabha. Moreover, we probably need to go further and make changes so that members of the Rajya Sabha are elected directly by the people instead of the elected representatives.
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