Indian legislative system: Important facts to know

Updated: Tuesday, February 18, 2014, 13:22 [IST]

Indian legislative system: Important facts to know

Bangalore, Feb 17: The 16th Lok Sabha elections are around the corner and here are few things you must know about the legislative system of India, the largest democracy in the world.

India has federal form of government, consisting of the President of the nation and two houses of the parliament. Members of both the houses of the parliament are called Members of Parliament or MPs.

Lok Sabha elections are held every five years. Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of Lok Sabha constituencies (80), followed by Maharashtra (48). Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal has 42 constituencies each.

The 28 states in India and 2 out of 7 union territories (Delhi and Puducherry) are governed by their respective state assemblies.

Rajya Sabha		Lok Sabha
Upper House of the Parliament		Lower House of the Parliament
It has 250 members, out of which 12 are nominated by the President of India and rest are elected by the members of state assemblies and Union Territories		552 is the maximum number of members in Lok Sabha envisaged by the Constitution of India, which includes 2 members from Anglo Indian community and 20 from Union Territories. The strength of the current Lok Sabha is 545
Minimum age to become a RS member is 35		Minimum age to become a Lok Sabha member is 25
Vice president presides over the House proceedings		Elected Speaker presides over the House proceedings.
Term of each member is 6 years and 1/3rd of the members retire after every two years		Term of each member in Lok Sabha is 5 years
Members are not elected directly by the people, but by elected representatives of 28 state assemblies and 7 union territories		Elected directly by the people of India

Vidhan Parishad / Legislative Council		Vidhan Sabha / Legislative Assembly
It is the upper House of state assembly in 7 states which have bicameral system (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Assam)		It is the lower house of state assembly for 7 states which have bicameral system. For rest of the 21 states and 2 union territories - Pondicherry and Delhi NCR, Vidhan Sabha is the only House
The House member is called Member of Legislative Council or MLC		The House member is called Member of Legislative Assembly or MLA
Tenure of each member is 6 years. One third of the House quits after every two years.		Tenure of the members is 5 years
The size of the Vidhan Parishad cannot be more than one-third the membership of the Vidhan Sabha or less than 40 members		The size of Vidhan Sabha cannot be more than 500 members or less than 60 members
One-third of members are elected by local authorities, and one-third by Legislative Assembly. One-twelfth is elected from graduates constituency and one-twelfth from teachers' constuituency. One-sixth is elected by governor		Members are elected directly by the people of the state