Members of Parliament: Eligibility, Election, Responsibilities and Leadership

Parliament is the Legislature of the Union of India and it consists of two houses, Rajya Sabha also known as the Council of States and Lok Sabha also known as House of the People. 

As per the Constitution of India, the Rajya Sabha should consist of minimum 250 members out of which 238 members represent the States and Union Territories, and 12 members are nominated by the President, who are persons with special knowledge and experience. Rajya Sabha is a body which is not subject to dissolution and one-third of its members retire every second year. For electing the members of Rajya Sabha, members representing the States are elected by MLA’s (members of the legislative assemblies) by means of a single transferable vote. 

The members of Lok Sabha are elected representatives who are chosen by people on the basis of Universal Adult Suffrage, by means of a direct election. The maximum strength of Lok Sabha as envisaged by the Constitution is 552 out of which 530 members represent the States, 20 members represent the Union Territories and 2 members are elected by the President himself. Presently, the total strength of the Lok Sabha is 545. So, while we talk about Members of Parliament (abbreviated as MP), they are the elected representatives of Indian People. 

Eligibility Criteria to become a Member of Parliament

The Constitution of India has laid down rules and acts with respect to the qualifications that a candidate must fulfil in order to be eligible for being elected as a Member of Parliament.

As per Article 84, a candidate should adhere to the following criteria:

1. He should be a citizen of India.
2. He must not be less than 25 years of age in case of Lok Sabha and not less than 30 years of age in case of Rajya Sabha
3. The candidate must himself be a voter, that is he should be registered as a voter in a parliamentary constituency.

Disqualification ground for a Member of Parliament

The Constitution also lays down rules prescribing ground of disqualification for a Member of Parliament. As per Article 102, following are the grounds on basis of which an MP can be disqualified from the House of Parliament:

1. He is found guilty of any election offence or guilty practices.
2. He has failed to lodge an account of election expenses within a stipulated time.
3. He is convicted for any offence resulting in imprisonment for two or more years.
4. He has any personal interest in government contracts, works and services.
5. He is dismissed from government services due to corruption, or disloyalty to State.
6. He is charged for promoting hatred and enmity between different religious groups.
7. He has bee punished for propagating social crimes such as dowry, sati, discrimination, caste system etc.

Responsibilities and Powers of the Members of Parliament

All the legislative powers of the federal Indian Government are vested in the Parliament. The laws framed by the Indian Parliament are enforced in the whole of the country. Deriving from the Constitution are various powers and responsibilities of the Members of Parliament, which are listed as follows:

1. Legislative Responsibilities: All the Members of Parliament are responsible to make laws with respect to subjects mentioned in Union List, State List and Concurrent List. Constitution also have powers to make laws with respect to the state legislature in the following circumstances:

• When some national emergency is in operation.
• When it is necessary to give effect to international agreements, treaties and conventions.
• When the President rule is in operation.

1. Executive Responsibilities: According to parliament form, government executive is responsible to the parliament for its acts and policies. Hence parliament exercises control by various measures like committees, question hour, zero hour etc. ministers are collectively responsible to the Parliament. This also covers the oversight responsibility to see that government duties are performed satisfactorily. 

In India, executive responsibilities are an important part of the parliament functioning. Parliament exerts control over the execution of responsibilities of the MP’s through proper protocols and procedures like question hour, zero hour, calling attention motion, adjournment motion, half-an-hour discussion, etc. Members of different political parties are nominated to the parliamentary committees and through these committees, the parliament controls the government. Article 75 of the constitution mentions that the council of ministers remains in office as long as it enjoys the confidence of the Lok Sabha. The ministers are responsible to the Lok Sabha individually and collectively. Lok Sabha can remove the council of ministers by passing a no confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.

1. Financial Responsibilities: The financial powers of the MP’s include finalization of budget, enactment of policies, scrutinizing the performance of financial spending through financial committees, post budgetary control, etc. 

Parliament enjoys the supreme authority in respect of all national financial matters. No money can be spent without the approval of the MP’s and no tax can be imposed without the authority of law. Budget is also passed with due approval of the parliament which also signifies that parliament has legalised the receipts and expenditure of the government. Committees are formed to keep a watch on government spending and MP’s are selected to be a part of these committees. In this way, parliament executes budgetary as well as post-budgetary control on the government. 

1. Electoral Responsibilities: The MP’s have a vital role in the election of President and Vice-President. The members of Lok Sabha elect the speaker and deputy speaker also from among its members. 

1. Judicial Responsibilities: Judicial powers of the MP’s constitute the following powers:

• Impeachment of President for violation of any of the constitutional enactments.
• Removing the judges of the high court and supreme court.
• Removal of vice-president.
• Punishing the members of the house for breaching privileges vested upon them, like, serving before taking the oath.

Constitutional Responsibilities: The parliament is empowered to initiate any proposal for an amendment to the constitution. A bill for amendment can be initiated in either Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. The state legislature can pass a resolution requesting the parliament for creating or withdrawing of the legislative council in the state. The parliament thus make acts for bringing about amendments to the constitution. 

Procedure of elections in Lok Sabha:

Members of the Lok Sabha are elected on the basis of adult universal suffrage and the selected candidates represent their respective constituencies, and hold seats for a tenure of five years or until the body is dissolved by the President under special circumstances or on the advice of the council of ministers. The members of the house meet in the Lok Sabha Chambers of the Sansad Bhavan, New Delhi. Lok Sabha or the House of the People or the lower house of the Parliament has a total of 543 members. All the 543 members are directly elected by citizens of India on the basis of universal adult suffrage representing all Parliamentary constituencies across the country.

Universal adult suffrage is an arrangement that the largest democracy of the world follows. India being the largest democratic nation allows every citizen of India who is over 18 years of age, irrespective of gender, caste, religion, or race and is otherwise not disqualified, to vote for the Lok Sabha members. The total elective membership among the states is distributed in such a way that the ratio between the number of seats allocated to each and every state, falls the same, as far as practically possible.

Each state is divided into territorial constituencies under two provisions of the Constitution:

1. Each state is allotted a number of seats in the Lok Sabha in such a way that the ratio between the number of seats allocated to each and every state, falls the same, as far as practically possible. This provision does not apply to states having a population of less than 6 million (60 lakhs).
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 remains the same throughout the whole state. 

To form a government at the Centre, a political party needs 272 MPs and if a party doesn't manage to get this number of elected representatives, it can join hands with other parties to form a coalition government.

In the year 1952, the first Lok Sabha was constituted after the first General Election in the year 1951-1952. GV Mavalankar was the first Speaker of Lok Sabha and M Ananthasayanam Ayyangar was the first Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha. In a true sense, the Lok Sabha is the controller of the nation because it has the power to introduce major policies and budget to the country.

Procedure of elections in Rajya Sabha:

Rajya Sabha also known as the Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament and is a permanent body which is not subject to dissolution. The Rajya Sabha can have a maximum of 250 members. The current permissible limit on the number of members stands at 245 members, of which 233 are elected from States and Union Territories and 12 members are nominated by the President, based on their special knowledge and experience.

Members of the Rajya Sabha are elected by MLAs on the floor of state assemblies. The election process is done by means of a single transferable vote. This implies that MLA’s can set their preferences on different candidates and Rajya Sabha members in Parliament are elected by members of legislative bodies of the states. MLA’s are provided with ballot papers the with names of all contending candidates printed on them and MLA’s can choose the candidates and rank them as first, second and third as per the preferences.

Prior to the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the Rajya Sabha election used to be held through a secret ballot. It was the Vajpayee government that introduced an open ballot system for these elections.

In order to win a Rajya Sabha election, a potential candidate needs to secure more votes than the quota calculated. If any candidate secures more first preferential votes than required under the quota, the surplus votes are transferred to the second potential candidate. One-third of total members of Rajya Sabha retire every second year and are replaced by newly elected members. By that sense, each member of the Rajya Sabha serves a total tenure of six years. 

Questions and Answers on the Parliament of India

While preparing to appear for any competitive exam, a candidate should be thoroughly prepared with questions on Indian Parliament which form part of most of the competitive exams.

• What is another name of the Council of States?

1. Lok Sabha
2. Rajya Sabha
3. Parliament
4. Adhoc Committee

Ans: B

• What is another name of the Lok Sabha?

1. Council of States
2. The Upper House
3. The House of the People
4. Parliament

Ans: C

• The maximum strength (number of members) of the Rajya Sabha:

1. 220
2. 235
3. 238
4. 250

Ans: D

• The President can nominate how many members in the Rajya Sabha & Lok Sabha?

1. 6, 3
2. 8, 2
3. 10, 3
4. 12, 2

Ans. D

• Who is the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha?

1. President of India
2. Vice President of India
3. Prime Minister of India
4. Chosen from the members of the Rajya Sabha

Ans: B

• What is the tenure of the elected members of Rajya Sabha?

1. 2 years
2. 4 Years
3. 6 Years
4. 8 Years

Ans: C

• Which Article is related to the Money Bill and where it can be introduced?

1. Article 110, Rajya Sabha
2. Article 110, Lok Sabha
3. Article 121, Rajya Sabha
4. Article 121, Lok Sabha

Ans: B

• Which of the following is not an eligibility criterion to become a member of Lok Sabha?

1. Age 25 years or over
2. Mentally sound
3. Candidate should not hold the office of profit.
4. Must be from Arts field.

Ans: D

• As per the constitution of India, what is the maximum strength (number of members) of the Lok Sabha?

1. 530
2. 540
3. 550
4. 552

Ans. D

• Who among the following is the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha?

1. President
2. Vice-President
3. Speaker of Lok Sabha
4. Prime Minister

Ans: C

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