Parliament is India’s supreme legislative body. The Indian Parliament is made up of the President and two Houses: Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President has the authority to convene and prorogue either House of Parliament, as well as to dissolve Lok Sabha. On January 26, 1950, India’s Constitution went into effect.

What is Parliament?

• The Union government’s legislative organ is the Parliament.
• Due to the adoption of the parliamentary form of government, it holds a pre-eminent and central position in the Indian democratic political system.
• It is also known as the ‘Westminster’ model of government.

Constitutional Provisions

• Part V of the Constitution containing articles 79 to 122 deals with the Parliament’s organization, composition, duration, officers, procedures, privileges, powers, and so on.
• Article 79 of the Constitution describes the structure of parliament. It states that the Parliament is made up of the President and two houses, the Lower House or House of People and the Upper House or Council of States.

Structure of Indian Parliament and Components

• As per the constitution, the Indian Parliament is divided into three parts: the President, the Council of States, and the House of the People.
• The Council of States and the House of People adopted the Hindi names ‘Rajya Sabha’ and ‘Lok Sabha’ in 1954, respectively.
• The Upper House (Second Chamber or House of Elders) is the Rajya Sabha, and the Lower House in the Lok Sabha (First Chamber or Popular House).
• The former represents the Indian Union’s states and union territories, while the latter represents the people of India as a whole.
• Despite the fact that the President of India is not a member of either House of Parliament and does not attend its meetings, he is an integral part of the Parliament.
• This is due to the fact that a bill passed by both Houses of Parliament cannot become law unless it receives the President’s assent.
• He also performs certain functions related to Parliamentary proceedings, such as summoning and pro-roguing both Houses, dissolving the Lok Sabha, addressing both Houses, issuing ordinances when they are not in session, and so on.
• The interdependence of the legislative and executive branches is emphasized in the parliamentary form of government.
• As a result, we have the ‘President-in-Parliament,’ similar to the ‘Crown-in-Parliament’ in Britain.
• The two houses sit separately and are constituted on different principles.

Lok Sabha

Lok Sabha is the lower house of India’s bicameral Parliament, or popular chamber/ House of the People, with the Rajya Sabha functioning as the upper house. The Lok Sabha is made of representatives of people elected by direct election on the basis of Universal Adult Suffrage. Members of Lok Sabha are referred to as MPs, or members of parliament. These members are elected from various union territories and states. Elections for Lok Sabha seats are conducted every five years. 

Historical background

The Lok Sabha (House of the People) was duly constituted for the first time on 17 April 1952 after the first General Elections were held from 25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952.

Provisions related to composition

Article 81 deals with the Composition of the Lok Sabha. This article provides that the maximum number should be as follows:

• Not more than 530 representatives of the States.
• Not more than 20 representatives from the Union Territories
• Not more than 2 members of the Anglo Indian Community as nominated by the President, only if he/she is of opinion that the Anglo Indian Community is not adequately represented in the parliament.
• This makes the total strength of the Lok Sabha i.e. 530+20+2= 552.

Representation of Anglo-Indian Community

• Representation of the Anglo-Indian Community is provided by the Constitution as per article 331.
• Article 331 says that: the President may if he is of opinion that the Anglo-Indian community is not adequately represented in the House of the People, nominate not more than two members of that community to the House of the People.
• Parliament passed the Constitution (126th Amendment) Bill, extending reservation for SC/STs but doing away with the provision for nomination of Anglo Indians to Lok Sabha and some state Assemblies.

Eligibility Criteria

Article 84 of the Constitution lays down the qualifications for membership of Parliament. A person to be qualified for the membership of the Lok Sabha should possess the following qualifications:

• He must be a citizen of India and make and subscribe before some person authorized in that behalf by the Election Commission an oath or affirmation according to the form set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule to the Constitution;
• He must be not less than 25 years of age;
• He must possess such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament.

Reason for Disqualification

Article 102 of the Constitution lays down that a person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament –

• If he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State, other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder;
• If he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;
• If he is an undischarged insolvent;
• If he is not a citizen of India, or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign State, or is under any acknowledgment of allegiance or adherence to a foreign State;
• If he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament.

The Parliament has laid down the following additional disqualifications in the Representation of People Act (1951):

• He must not have been found guilty of certain election offenses or corrupt practices in the elections.
• He must not have been convicted for any offense resulting in imprisonment for two or more years. But, the detention of a person under a preventive detention law is not a disqualification.
• He must not have failed to lodge an account of his election expenses within the time.
• He must not have any interest in government contracts, works, or services.
• He must not be a director or managing agent nor hold an office of profit in a corporation in which the government has at least 25 percent share.
• He must not have been dismissed from government service for corruption or disloyalty to the State.
• He must not have been convicted for promoting enmity between different groups or for the offense of bribery.

Process of Election

The members of the Lok Sabha are elected on the basis of the following principles:

• Universal Adult Franchise (Article 326): Every citizen who has attained the minimum age of 18 years(61st amendment act) has the right to vote in the elections to the Lok Sabha. However, it is essential that his name should stand included in the voters list of his constituency.
• Reservation of Seats for SCs and STs: Some constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. These are called Reserved Constituencies. From each reserved constituency only candidates belonging to SCs or STs, as the case may be, can contest elections. However, all the voters of each such constituency exercise their right to vote for electing one candidate belonging to SC or ST as their representative. Presently 131 seats stand reserved (84 for SCs and 47 for STs).
• Single Member Territorial Constituencies: The whole country is divided into as many territorial constituencies as is the number of members of the Lok Sabha to be elected. From each constituency, one MP is elected.
• Direct Election and Simple Majority Vote Victory system: All the members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the people. Any voter can cast his vote to elect any candidate of his choice from his constituency. A candidate securing the largest number of votes from amongst all the contestants from a constituency gets elected as the representative of the people of his constituency in the Lok Sabha.

Tenure of Member

• The normal term of the Lok Sabha is five years. This term can be extended for one year during an emergency.
• But fresh elections to the Lok Sabha must be held within six months of the end of the emergency. Further, the President can dissolve the Lok Sabha at any time when the Prime Minister may advise him to do so or when no party may be in a position to form a government.
• In this case also a new Lok Sabha has to be essentially elected within six months.
• Sessions: The President can call the session of Parliament at any time but the gap between two meetings of the Parliament cannot be more than six months. It means in one year, a minimum of two sessions of the Lok Sabha are essential.
• For a meeting Quorum: of the Lok Sabha the presence of at least 1/10th of its total members is essential. If 1/10th of the members are not present in a meeting of the Lok Sabha, the Speaker of the House can adjourn the meeting for lack of quorum