Indian Polity Quiz: Parliament & State Government | 9 June, 2021

The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Constitution. Like many other articles, it is based on the provision of Government of India Act, 1935.

• India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar. By convention (i.e., not provided by the Constitution), Parliament meets for three sessions in a year.
• The longest, Budget Session (1st session) starts towards the end of January and concludes by the end of April or first week of May.
• The session has a recess so that Parliamentary Committees can discuss the budgetary proposals.
• The second session is the three-week Monsoon Session, which usually begins in July and finishes in August.

• Winter Session (3rd session) is held from November to December.

Source: Laxmikanth

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.

Source: Laxmikanth

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.

Source: Laxmikanth

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.

Source: Laxmikanth

The Rajya Sabha (first constituted in 1952) is a continuing chamber, that is, it is a permanent body and not subject to dissolution. However, one-third of its members retire every second year.

• Their seats are filled up by fresh elections and presidential nominations at the beginning of every third year. The retiring members are eligible for re-election and renomination any number of times.
• Unlike the Rajya Sabha, the Lok Sabha is not a continuing chamber. Its normal term is five years from the date of its first meeting after the general elections, after which it automatically dissolves.

• However, the President is authorized to dissolve the Lok Sabha at any time even before the completion of five years and this cannot be challenged in a court of law.

Source: Laxmikanth

The Constitution refers to the budget as the ‘annual financial statement’.

• In other words, the term ‘budget’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution.

• It is the popular name for the ‘annual financial statement’ that has been dealt with in Article 112 of the Constitution.

Source: Laxmikanth

Articles 168 to 212 in Part VI of the Constitution deal with the organization, composition, duration, officers, procedures, privileges, powers and so on of the state legislature. Though these are similar to that of Parliament, there are some differences as well.

Source: Laxmikanth

There is no uniformity in the organization of state legislatures.

• Most of the states have a unicameral system, while others have a bicameral system.
• At present (2019), only six states have two Houses (bicameral).
• These are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Source: Laxmikanth

The legislative assembly consists of representatives directly elected by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise.

• Its maximum strength is fixed at 500 and minimum strength at 60.
• For the purpose of holding direct elections to the assembly, each state is divided into territorial constituencies.
• The demarcation of these constituencies is done 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 other words, the Constitution ensures that there is uniformity of representation between different constituencies in the state.

Source: Laxmikanth

The Constitution lays down the following qualifications for a person to be chosen a member of the state legislature.

1. He must be a citizen of India.
2. He must make and subscribe to an oath or affirmation before the person authorized by the Election Commission for this purpose.

In his oath or affirmation, he swears

• To bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India

• To uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India

3. He must be not less than 30 years of age in the case of the legislative council and not less than 25 years of age in the case of the legislative assembly.
4. He must possess other qualifications prescribed by Parliament.

Source: Laxmikanth