Rajya Sabha MP - How is it Useful?

Excerpt from http://www.sify.com/news/the-truths-our-editors-hide-news-columns-niunfDcbeid.html

Once a reporter tried to convince me that Rajya Sabha seats were up for sale.

I didn't believe him one bit. He eerily quoted the very same Rs 100-crore figure (that's being bandied in the media recently) at that time itself.

The conversation went something like this...

"Who would want to buy an RS seat?"

"An industrialist, of course!"

"What will he gain?"

"A diplomatic passport for one."

"How is that helpful?"

"Well, that's great for travelling all over the world for doing international business seamlessly. It's a great boon. You wouldn't understand."

"That's all?"

"Well there's also the fact that you get to sit in the Rajya Sabha. Do you know that if a businessman tried to meet a Minister, he might never ever get an appointment? Here he meets all the Ministers every day. It's like an exclusive membership to the most powerful political club in India!"

He now seems to have a point. Today, even the Prime Minister is a member of the Rajya Sabha.

Imagine sitting and chatting with all the top politicians of the country on a regular basis. Now that would be really handy for business!

I'm still foxed about the Rs 100 crore figure, though. Has there been no inflation in over a decade? Or was it 40-50 crore at that time and he was exaggerating?