Lok Sabha

House of the People लोक सभा Lōk sabhā
15th Lok Sabha
Type
Type	Lower house of Parliament of India
Leadership
Speaker	Meira Kumar, (INC) since 3 June 2009[1]
Deputy Speaker	Kariya Munda, (BJP) since 8 June 2009[2]
Leader of the House	Pranab Mukherjee, (INC) since 26 May 2009[3]
Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha)	Sushma Swaraj, (BJP) since 21 December 2009[4]
Members	545 (543 elected + 2 appointed)[5]
Political groups	UPA
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	April–May, 2009
Motto
धर्मचक्रपरिवर्तनाय॥ - To rotate the wheel of dharma.
Meeting place
Chamber of Lok Sabha, Sansad Bhavan, Sansad Marg, New Delhi
Website
loksabha.nic.in

The Lok Sabha (Hindi: लोक सभा) or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India. The Constitution limits the Lok Sabha to a maximum of 552 members, including no more than 20 members representing people from the Union Territories, and two appointed non-partisan members to represent the Anglo-Indian community (if the President feels that that community is not adequately represented).

Each Lok Sabha is formed for a five-year term, after which it is automatically dissolved, unless extended by a proclamation of emergency. In such cases, the term may be extended by one-year increments. The 15th Lok Sabha was formed in May 2009.

An exercise to redraw Lok Sabha constituencies' boundaries has been carried out by the Delimitation Commission based on the Indian census of 2001. This exercise, which was supposed to be carried out after every census, was suspended in 1976 following a constitutional amendment to avoid adverse effects of the family planning program which was being implemented.^[6] Today, the Lok Sabha has its own TV channel, Lok Sabha TV, head-quartered within the premises of Parliament.

Membership qualifications

Membership of the Lok Sabha requires that the person be a citizen of India, aged 25 or over, mentally sound, should not be bankrupt and if the person has criminal proceedings in courts, the person has to mention it when they file their affidavit to the election commission. However, the person must not have been criminally convicted. For reserved seats, one should be member of the appropriate castes and/or tribes.

==Sessions and working hours==t hour of every sitting is called the Question Hour, during which questions posed by members may be assigned to specific government ministries, to be answered at a fixed date in the future.

The Lok Sabha shares legislative power with the Rajya Sabha, except in the area of money bills, in which case the Lok Sabha has the ultimate authority. In the case of money bills, it is only sent to the Rajya Sabha for recommendations. In the case of other related issues, the bill is sent for a period of 14 working days, and if it is not returned in that span of time, it is considered as passed.^{[clarification needed]} If conflicting legislation is enacted by the two Houses, a joint sitting is held to resolve the differences. In such a session, the members of the Lok Sabha would generally prevail, since the Lok Sabha includes more than twice as many members as the Rajya Sabha.

Three sessions of Lok Sabha take place in a year:

• Budget session: February to May.
• Monsoon session: July to September.
• Winter session: November to December.

Powers

The Lok Sabha has certain powers that make it more powerful than the Rajya Sabha.

• Motions of no confidence against the government can only be introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha. If passed by a majority vote, the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers resigns collectively. The Rajya Sabha has no power over such a motion, and hence no real power over the executive. However, the Prime Minister may threaten the dissolution of the Lok Sabha and recommend this to the President, forcing an untimely general election. The President normally accepts this recommendation unless otherwise convinced that the Lok Sabha might recommend a new Prime Minister by a majority vote. Thus, both the executive and the legislature in India have checks and balances over each other.
• Money bills can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha, and upon being passed, are sent to the Rajya Sabha, where it can be deliberated on for up to 14 days. If not rejected by the Rajya Sabha, or 14 days lapse from the introduction of the bill in the Rajya Sabha without any action by the House, or recommendations made by the Rajya Sabha are not accepted by the Lok Sabha, the bill is considered passed. The budget is presented in the Lok Sabha by the Finance Minister in the name of the President of India.
• In matters pertaining to non-financial (ordinary) bills, after the bill has been passed by the House where it was originally tabled (Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha), it is sent to the other house, where it may be kept for a maximum period of 6 months. If the other House rejects the bill or a period of 6 months elapses without any action by that House, or the House that originally tabled the bill does not accept the recommendations made by the members of the other house, it results in a deadlock. This is resolved by a joint session of both Houses, presided over by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and decided by a simple majority. The will of the Lok Sabha normally prevails in these matters, as its strength is more than double that of the Rajya Sabha.
• Equal Powers with the Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing any Bill for Constitutional Amendment (by a majority of the total membership of the House and at least two-thirds majority of the members present and voting).
• Equal Powers with the Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing a motion for the impeachment of the President (by two-thirds of the membership of the House).
• Equal Powers with the Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing a motion for the impeachment of the judges of the Supreme Court and the state High Courts (by a majority of the membership of the House and at least two-thirds majority of the members present and voting).
• Equal Powers with the Rajya Sabha in initiating and passing a resolution declaring war or national emergency (by two-thirds majority) or constitutional emergency (by simple majority) in a state.
• If the Lok Sabha is dissolved before or after the declaration of a National Emergency, the Rajya Sabha becomes the sole Parliament. It cannot be dissolved. This is a limitation on the Lok Sabha. But there is a possibility that president can exceed the term to not more than 1 year under the proclamation of emergency and the same would be lowered down to six month if the said proclamation ceases to operate..

Composition by states and territories

Subdivision	Type	No. of constituencies[7]
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	Union Territory	1
Andhra Pradesh	State	42
Arunachal Pradesh	State	2
Assam	State	14
Bihar	State	40
Chandigarh	Union Territory	1
Chhattisgarh	State	11
Dadra and Nagar Haveli	Union Territory	1
Daman and Diu	Union Territory	1
Delhi	Union Territory	7
Goa	State	2
Gujarat	State	26
Haryana	State	10
Himachal Pradesh	State	4
Jammu and Kashmir	State	6
Jharkhand	State	14
Karnataka	State	28
Kerala	State	20
Lakshadweep	Union Territory	1
Madhya Pradesh	State	29
Maharashtra	State	48
Manipur	State	2
Meghalaya	State	2
Mizoram	State	1
Nagaland	State	1
Orissa	State	21
Pondicherry	Union Territory	1
Punjab	State	13
Rajasthan	State	25
Sikkim	State	1
Tamil Nadu	State	39
Tripura	State	2
Uttarakhand	State	5
Uttar Pradesh	State	80
West Bengal	State	42

Lok Sabha and general election

Lok Sabha is constituted after the general election as follows:

Lok Sabha	General Election
1st Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1951
2nd Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1957
3rd Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1962
4th Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1967
5th Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1971
6th Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1977
7th Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1980
8th Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1984
9th Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1989
10th Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1991
11th Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1996
12th Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1998
13th Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 1999
14th Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 2004
15th Lok Sabha	Indian general election, 2009

Members by party

Present members of Lok Sabha by political party and alliance up to 19 August 2011:^{[8][9][10][11]}

Alliances	Party	Seats
United Progressive Alliance Seats: 262	Indian National Congress	206
	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	18
	All India Trinamool Congress	19
	Nationalist Congress Party	9
	National Conference	3
	Jharkhand Mukti Morcha	2
	Indian Union Muslim League	2
	Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi	1
	Kerala Congress (Mani)	1
	All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen	1
National Democratic Alliance Seats: 159	Bharatiya Janata Party	116
	Janata Dal (United)	20
	Shiv Sena	11
	Rashtriya Lok Dal	5
	Shiromani Akali Dal	4
	Telangana Rashtra Samithi	2
	Asom Gana Parishad	1
Third Front Seats: 79	Left Front Left Democratic Front	24
	Bahujan Samaj Party	21
	Biju Janata Dal	14
	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	9
	Telugu Desam Party	6
	Janata Dal (Secular)	3
	Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	1
	Haryana Janhit Congress	1
Fourth Front Seats: 27
	Samajwadi Party	22
	Rashtriya Janata Dal	4
Other Parties and Independents Seats: 16	Assam United Democratic Front	1
	Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik)	2
	Nagaland People's Front	1
	Bodaland Peoples Front	1
	Swabhimani Paksha	1
	Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi	1
	Sikkim Democratic Front	1
	Independents	9
Total		543

See also

• Rajya Sabha
• Lawmaking procedure in India
• Politics of India
• List of Indian constituencies
• Indian general elections 1951-1971
• Indian general elections 1977-1999
• Indian general elections 2004
• Indian general elections 2009
• List of members of the 15th Lok Sabha of India
• List of members of the 15th Lok Sabha (by state)

References

1. ^ "Bioprofile of Meira Kumar". Fifteenth Lok Sabha Member's Bioprofile. http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/members/Biography.aspx?mpsno=3066. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
2. ^ "Bioprofile of Kariya Munda". Fifteenth Lok Sabha Member's Bioprofile. http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/members/Biography.aspx?mpsno=259. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
3. ^ "Bioprofile of Pranab Mukherjee". Fifteenth Lok Sabha Member's Bioprofile. http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/members/Biography.aspx?mpsno=4195. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
4. ^ "Bioprofile of Sushma Swaraj". Fifteenth Lok Sabha Member's Bioprofile. http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/members/Biography.aspx?mpsno=3812. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
5. ^ "Lok Sabha". parliamentofindia.nic.in. http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/intro/introls.htm. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
6. ^ Election Commission India
7. ^ "Lok Sabha Introduction". National Informatics Centre, Government of India. http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/intro/introls.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-22. 
8. ^ http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/Members/partywiselist.aspx
9. ^ http://eciresults.nic.in/FrmPartyWiseTrendsAndResults.aspx
10. ^ http://ibnlive.in.com/politics/loksabhafinal/plist.php
11. ^ http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/more-congress-less-upa/358357/

External links

• Description of Lok Sabha on website of Parliament of India
• Lok Sabha website