ORGANISATION,COMPOSITION AND ELECTION OF INDIAN

PARLIAMENT

PARLIAMENT

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

Articles 79 to 122 in Part V of the Constitution deal with the organisation, composition,
duration, officers, procedures, privileges, powers and etc. of the Parliament.

ORGANISATION OF PARLIAMENT

Under the Constitution, the Parliament of India consists of three parts viz, the President, the
Council of States and the House of the People. In 1954, the Hindi names ‘Rajya Sabha’ and
‘Lok Sabha’ were adopted by the Council of States and the House of People respectively.
The Rajya Sabha is the Upper House (Second Chamber or House of Elders) and the Lok
Sabha is the Lower House (First Chamber or Popular House). The former represents the
states and union territories of the Indian Union, while the latter represents the people of
India as a whole.

Though the President of India is not a member of either House of Parliament and does not
sit in the Parliament to attend its meetings, he is an integral part of the Parliament. This is
because a bill passed by both the Houses of Parliament cannot become law without the
President’s assent. He also performs certain functions relating to the proceedings of the
Parliament, for example, he summons and prorogues both the Houses, dissolves the Lok
Sabha, addresses both the Houses, issues ordinances when they are not in session, and so
on.

In this respect, the framers of the Indian Constitution relied on the British pattern rather than
the American pattern. In Britain, the Parliament consists of the Crown (King or Queen), the
House of Lords (Upper House) and the House of Commons (Lower House). By contrast, the
American president is not an integral part of the legislature. In USA, the legislature, which
is known as Congress, consists of the Senate (Upper House) and the House of
Representatives (Lower House).

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The parliamentary form of government emphasises on the interdependence between the
legislative and executive organs. Hence, we have the ‘President-in-Parliament’ like the
‘Crown-in-Parliament’ in Britain. The presidential form of government, on the other hand,
lays stress on the separation of legislative and executive organs. Hence, the American
president is not regarded as a constituent part of the Congress.

COMPOSITION OF THE TWO HOUSES

Composition of Rajya Sabha

The maximum strength of the Rajya Sabha is fixed at 250, out of which, 238 are to be the
representatives of the states and union territories (elected indirectly) and 12 are nominated
by the president.

At present, the Rajya Sabha has 245 members. Of these, 229 members represent the states, 4
members represent the union territories and 12 members are nominated by the president.

The Fourth Schedule of the Constitution deals with the allocation of seats in the Rajya
Sabha to the states and union territories .

1. Representation of States The representatives of states in the Rajya Sabha are elected by
the elected members of state legislative assemblies. The election is held in accordance with
the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote. The seats
are allotted to the states in the Rajya Sabha on the basis of population. Hence, the number of
representatives varies from state to state. For example, Uttar Pradesh has 31 members while
Tripura has 1 member only. However, in USA, all states are given equal representation in
the Senate irrespective of their population. USA has 50 states and the Senate has 100
members—2 from each state.

2. Representation of Union Territories The representatives of each union territory in the

Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected by members of an electoral college specially constituted
for the purpose. This election is also held in accordance with the system of proportional
representation by means of the single transferable vote. Out of the seven union territories,
only two (Delhi and Puducherry) have representation in Rajya Sabha. The populations of
other five union territories are too small to have any representative in the Rajya Sabha.

3. Nominated Members The president nominates 12 members to the Rajya Sabha from
people who have special knowledge or practical experience in art, literature, science and
social service. The rationale behind this principle of nomination is to provide eminent

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persons a place in the Rajya Sabha without going through the process of election. It should
be noted here that the American Senate has no nominated members.

Composition of Lok Sabha

The maximum strength of the Lok Sabha is fixed at 552. Out of this, 530 members are to be
the representatives of the states, 20 members are to be the representatives of the union
territories and 2 members are to be nominated by the president from the Anglo-Indian
community .

At present, the Lok Sabha has 545 members. Of these, 530 members represent the states, 13
members represent the union territories and 2 Anglo-Indian members are nominated by the
President .

1. Representation of States The representatives of states in the Lok Sabha are directly
elected by the people from the territorial constituencies in the states. The election is based
on the principle of universal adult franchise. Every Indian citizen who is above 18 years of
age and who is not disqualified under the provisions of the Constitution or any law is
eligible to vote at such election. The voting age was reduced from 21 to 18 years by the 61st
Constitutional Amendment Act, 1988.

2. Representation of Union Territories The Constitution has empowered the Parliament to

prescribe the manner of choosing the representatives of the union territories in the Lok
Sabha. Accordingly, the Parliament has enacted the Union Territories (Direct Election to the
House of the People) Act, 1965, by which the members of Lok Sabha from the union
territories are also chosen by direct election.

3. Nominated Members The president can nominate two members from the Anglo-Indian
community if the community is not adequately represented in the Lok Sabha. Originally,
this provision was to operate till 1960 but has been extended till 2020 by the 95th
Amendment Act, 2009.

SYSTEM OF ELECTIONS TO LOK SABHA

The various aspects related to the system of elections to the Lok Sabha are as follows:

Territorial Constituencies

For the purpose of holding direct elections to the Lok Sabha, each state is divided into
territorial constituencies. In this respect, the Constitution makes the following two
provisions:

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 1. Each state is allotted a number of seats in the Lok Sabha in such a manner that the
ratio between that number and its population is the same for all states. This provision
does not apply to a state having a population of less than six millions.

2. Each state is divided into territorial constituencies in such a manner that the ratio
between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it is
the same throughout the state.

In brief, the Constitution ensures that there is uniformity of representation in two respects:
(a) between the different states, and (b) between the different constituencies in the same
state.

The expression ‘population’ means the population as ascertained at the preceding census of
which the relevant figures have been published.

Readjustment after each Census

After every census, a readjustment is to be made in (a) allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha
to the states, and (b) division of each state into territorial constituencies. Parliament is
empowered to determine the authority and the manner in which it is to be made.
Accordingly, the Parliament has enacted the Delimitation Commission Acts in 1952, 1962,
1972 and 2002 for this purpose.

The 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 froze the allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha to the
states and the division of each state into territorial constituencies till the year 2000 at the
1971 level. This ban on readjustment was extended for another 25 years (ie, upto year 2026)
by the 84th Amendment Act of 2001, with the same objective of encouraging population
limiting measures.

The 84th Amendment Act of 2001 also empowered the government to undertake
readjustment and rationalisation of territorial constituencies in the states on the basis of the
population figures of 1991 census. Later, the 87th Amendment Act of 2003 provided for the
delimitation of constituencies on the basis of 2001 census and not 1991 census. However,
this can be done without altering the number of seats allotted to each state in the Lok Sabha.

Reservation of Seats for SCs and STs

Though the Constitution has abandoned the system of communal representation, it provides
for the reservation of seats for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the Lok Sabha on
the basis of population ratios .

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Originally, this reservation was to operate for ten years (ie, up to 1960), but it has been
extended continuously since then by 10 years each time. Now, under the 95th Amendment
Act of 2009, this reservation is to last until 2020.

Though seats are reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, they are elected by all
the voters in a constituency, without any separate electorate. A member of scheduled castes
and scheduled tribes is also not debarred from contesting a general (non-reserved) seat.

The 84th Amendment Act of 2001 provided for refixing of the reserved seats on the basis of
the population figures of 1991 census as applied to rationalisation of the general seats. Later,
the 87th Amendment Act of 2003 provided for the refixing of the reserved seats on the basis
of 2001 census and not 1991 census.

Proportional Representation not Adopted

Though the Constitution has adopted the system of proportional representation in the case of
Rajya Sabha, it has not preferred the same system in the case of Lok Sabha. Instead, it has
adopted the system of territorial representation for the election of members to the Lok
Sabha.

Under territorial representation, every member of the legislature represents a geographical

area known as a constituency. From each constituency, only one representative is elected.
Hence such a constituency is known as single-member constituency. In this system, a
candidate who secures majority of votes is declared elected. This simple majority system of
representation does not represent the whole electorate. In other words, it does not secure due
representation to minorities (small groups).

The system of proportional representation aims at removing the defects of territorial

representation. Under this system, all sections of the people get representation in proportion
to their number. Even the smallest section of the population gets its due share of
representation in the legislature.

There are two kinds of proportional representation, namely, single transferable vote system
and list system. In India, the first kind is adopted for the election of members to the Rajya
Sabha and state legislative council and for electing the President and the Vice-President.

Though some members of the Constituent Assembly had advocated the system of
proportional representation for the election of members to the Lok Sabha, the Constitution
has not adopted the system due to two reasons.

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1. Difficulty for the voters to understand the system (which is complicated) due to low
literacy scale in the country.

2. Unsuitability to the parliamentary government due to the tendency of the system to

multiply political parties leading to instability in government.

Additionally, the system of proportional representation has the following demerits:

1. It is highly expensive.

2. It does not give any scope for organising by-elections.

3. It eliminates intimate contacts between voters and representatives.

4. It promotes minority thinking and group interests.

5. It increases the significance of party system and decreases that of voter.