Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha

The Rajya Sabha Chairman is not elected by the House at all — the Constitution makes the Vice-President of India the ex officio presiding officer of the Council of States under Article 89. The Deputy Chairman, by contrast, is chosen by the House from among its own members. Together these two offices keep the Rajya Sabha's proceedings running whether or not the Vice-President is personally available to preside.

Article 89: The Constitutional Basis

Article 89 has two parts. Clause (1) declares that the Vice-President of India "shall be ex officio Chairman of the Council of States." Clause (2) requires the Council of States to choose one of its own members to be Deputy Chairman, and to choose another member whenever that office falls vacant. So the Chairman's office is attached automatically to whoever holds the office of Vice-President, while the Deputy Chairman is a genuine elected office filled only by sitting Rajya Sabha members.

The Chairman: An Office Attached to the Vice-Presidency

Because the Vice-President is ex officio Chairman, the two offices cannot be separated — a person cannot be Vice-President without also presiding over the Rajya Sabha, and cannot be Chairman of the Rajya Sabha without being Vice-President. Article 64 reinforces this link: it states that the Vice-President is ex officio Chairman of the Council of States and cannot hold any other office of profit. It also carves out an exception — when the Vice-President is called upon to act as President (during a vacancy in the President's office, or when the President is unable to discharge functions), the Vice-President stops performing the duties of Chairman for that period, and those duties fall to the Deputy Chairman instead.

While presiding, the Chairman does not vote in the first instance like an ordinary member. Article 100 provides that all questions in a House are decided by a majority of members present and voting, and that the presiding officer — Speaker or Chairman — has no vote in the first instance but exercises a casting vote in case of a tie. Article 92 further bars the Chairman (or Deputy Chairman) from presiding over the House while a resolution for removing them from that office is under consideration.

The Deputy Chairman: An Elected Office

Unlike the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman is elected by the Rajya Sabha from among its own members and therefore continues to be a full member of the House with a vote, except when actually presiding, when the same no-vote-in-first-instance and casting-vote rule under Article 100 applies. Separate constitutional provisions (immediately following Article 89 in the text) govern how the Deputy Chairman may resign, vacate office, or be removed, and how the Deputy Chairman — or another member authorised for the purpose — may perform the Chairman's duties when needed, including whenever the Vice-President is acting as President.

Salary and Perquisites

The Constitution does not fix a separate emolument for the Vice-President in the capacity of Chairman; the Vice-President draws the regular salary attached to that office while presiding over the Rajya Sabha. Parliament raised this salary from ₹1.25 lakh to ₹4 lakh per month in 2018. When the Vice-President is acting as President, the salary payable is that of the President, not the Chairman's salary. The Constitution separately provides (in a later article) for the salaries and allowances of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman, along with the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Rajya Sabha Chairman vs Lok Sabha Speaker

Feature	Rajya Sabha Chairman	Lok Sabha Speaker
How the office is filled	Ex officio — automatically the sitting Vice-President (Article 89)	Elected by Lok Sabha members from among themselves
Membership of the House	Not a member of the Rajya Sabha	Is a member of the Lok Sabha
Vote in proceedings	No vote in first instance; casting vote on a tie (Article 100)	No vote in first instance; casting vote on a tie (Article 100)
Deputy office	Deputy Chairman, elected by the House	Deputy Speaker, elected by the House
Substitute when acting as President	Deputy Chairman performs Chairman's duties	Not applicable

A Comparative Note: The US Vice-President

The arrangement in Article 89 is often compared with the United States, where the Vice-President is also the ex officio President of the Senate — the American upper house. The Indian design borrows this feature: in both systems, the head of the upper chamber is not a member elected from within that chamber but an office-holder from the executive branch who presides over it separately.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

The Vice-President is ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha under Article 89(1).
The Deputy Chairman is elected by the Rajya Sabha from among its own members under Article 89(2).
The presiding officer does not vote in the first instance but has a casting vote on a tie (Article 100).
The Chairman's salary was raised to ₹4 lakh per month in 2018.

Mains (GS2)

Examine why the Constitution makes the Vice-President the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha rather than allowing the House to elect its own presiding officer.
Discuss the role of the Deputy Chairman in ensuring continuity of the Rajya Sabha's proceedings.

FAQ

Q1. Is the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha a member of the House? No. The Vice-President of India is ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha under Article 89(1) but is not an elected member of the House.

Q2. Who elects the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha? The Rajya Sabha itself chooses the Deputy Chairman from among its own members, as required by Article 89(2).

Q3. Who presides over the Rajya Sabha when the Vice-President is acting as President? The Deputy Chairman performs the duties of Chairman during any period when the Vice-President is discharging the functions of the President.

Q4. Can the Chairman vote in the Rajya Sabha? The Chairman does not vote in the first instance on any question but exercises a casting vote only when there is a tie, under Article 100.

Q5. Can the Chairman preside while a motion to remove them is being discussed? No. Article 92 bars the Chairman (or Deputy Chairman) from presiding over the House while a resolution for their own removal from that office is under consideration.

Quick Revision

Article 89(1): Vice-President is ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Article 89(2): Rajya Sabha elects its Deputy Chairman from among its own members.
Article 64: Vice-President stops performing Chairman's duties while acting as President; Deputy Chairman takes over.
Article 100: Presiding officer has no vote in the first instance, only a casting vote on a tie.
Article 92: Chairman/Deputy Chairman cannot preside during a motion for their own removal.

Sources

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity (McGraw Hill) — the standard UPSC handbook.
D.D. Basu, Introduction to the Constitution of India (LexisNexis) — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.

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