Everything you need to know about the Indian Parliament as an Indian Citizen
Parliament of India was formed on the 26th of January, 1950 and The Election Commission of India was formed on 25th of January, 1950.
Indian Parliament is formed by,
- The President
- The two houses namely the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and Lok Sabha (House of the People)
The main function of a parliament is to:
- Make Laws
- To sanction Government Expenditures
- To oversee the Work of Government
- To represent the Interest of the People
The President is the Head of the Indian Parliament and has full powers of both the houses. He has the power to call a session or even discontinue a session of either houses of the Parliament. The President is always the first to address the Parliament during the budget sessions. He has the power to remove the prime minister, council ministers and even has the power to dissolve Lok Sabha.
The present President of India is Ram Nath Kovind. He’s the 13th President of India and came into power from 25th July, 2017.
The elected or nominated members to either house of Parliament are referred to as Members of Parliament (MP). Lok Sabha members are elected by the public by casting their votes. Rajya Sabha members are elected indirectly by people, i.e. through the MLAs by proportional representation.
Since 2nd of June 2014, Arun Jaitley has been the leader of Rajya Sabha and Narendra Modi is the leader of Lok Shabha. And they will continue as the leaders until the next elections in 2019.
The Parliament has a sanctioned a maximum strength of 545 for Lok Sabha, which includes the members elected by people and the 2 nominees elected by the President from the Anglo-Indian Community. India is a democratic country and it is formed by union of states and follows five democratic principles – sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic and republic.
Rajya Sabha or the Upper House of the Parliament
Article 80 of the Constitution lays down the maximum strength of Rajya Sabha as 250, out of which 238 members are the state representatives, 2 from the Union Territories and 12 members are nominated by the President from the expertise of different fields like Science, Literature, Sports, Art, and social service.
MLA’s vote in the Rajya Sabha elections in what is called proportional representation with the single transferable vote (STV) system. In other words, we elect the MLAs and the MLAs elect the Rajya Sabha members (who are nominated by their political party). Rajya Sabha is a permanent body and is not subjected to dissolution. It is headed by the Vice-president of India. Each member is elected for a term of six years. But one third of the members retire every second year and they are replaced by newly elected members.
At present there are totally 245 members in Rajya Sabha of which 233 members are elected by the Vidhan Sabha Member (MLA’s) and 12 members are nominated by the President.
Lok Sabha or the Lower House of the Parliament
Maximum strength of Lok Sabha is 552 members of which 530 members represent the States, 20 members represent the Union Territories and 2 members are nominated by the President from the Anglo-Indian Community. The members representing the state are elected by citizens of India on the basis of universal adult franchise representing Parliamentary constituencies across the country.
To lead the parliament majority has to be proved with more than half of the strength in front of the President and the group that has the majority of votes (it might be a Single Party or Coalition of Parties or Independent Candidates) can form the Government. For any group or party to get majority, it has to win more than or equal to 272 seats in Lok Sabha elections.
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The current strength of the house is 545.
Minimum age to become a member of Lok Sabha is 25 years and to be member of Rajya Sabha it is 30 years and should be a citizen of India.
Prime Minister of India is chosen by the party or the group of parties which has the majority number of seats in Lok Sabha. If the person chosen as the Prime Minister is neither a member of the Lok Sabha nor the Rajya Sabha at the time of selection, they must become a member of either of the houses within the next six months.
A leader cannot be member of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha at one point time. If a person is elected from both the houses, he needs to intimate to the President within 10 days to the house of which he desires to serve.
MPs are entitled to a salary of INR 50,000 per month, INR 45,000 as constituency allowance, INR 15,000 as office expenses and INR 30,000 for secretarial assistance. When Parliament is in session, they get a daily allowance of INR 2,000.
Every year there are three sessions of the Parliament – Budget, Monsoon and Winter during different seasons.
Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have equal legislative power, barring the area of Finance, where Lok Sabha has been given higher powers.
The two houses of the Indian Parliament meet every year to consider and take legislative measures on the multiple bills that are introduced and the bills that needs approval. It also includes participating in debates on the issues, views and aspirations of people of their constituency as they are the representatives of their constituencies. They also have to the legislative responsibilities like examining new laws to be passed or if the works are carried out smoothly by the government departments etc.
So, as voters you need to know about your leaders who are contesting in your constituency, what works have they done for the betterment, what’s their vision, their qualities, their strengths, weakness, their availability in the constituency once elected etc. You can understand your leaders better by downloading our app MyLeaders.
“Let’s choose the best leaders for our better future”