Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha | |
|---|---|
| 18th Lok Sabha | |
| Type | |
| Type | of the Parliament of India |
| Leadership | |
Om Birla, BJP since 17 June 2019 | |
Deputy Speaker | Vacant since 23 June 2019 |
Leader of the House | |
Leader of the Opposition | |
Secretary General | Utpal Kumar Singh since 30 November 2020 |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 543 |
Political groups | Government (293)
NDA (293)
Opposition (234)
Other Opposition (15) Vacant (1)
|
Length of term | 5 years |
| Elections | |
| First-past-the-post voting | |
First election | 25 October 1951 – 21 February 1952 |
Last election | 19 April – 1 June 2024 |
Next election | By May 2029 |
| Meeting place | |
| Lok Sabha Chamber, Sansad Bhavan, 118, Rafi Marg, New Delhi, Delhi, India – 110001 28°37′3″N 77°12′30″E / 28.61750°N 77.20833°E | |
| Website | |
| sansad | |
| Constitution | |
| Constitution of India | |
| Rules | |
| The Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha (English) | |
The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of India, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past-the-post system to represent their respective constituencies, and they hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the president of India on the advice of the union council of ministers. The house meets in the Lok Sabha chamber of the Parliament House in New Delhi.
The maximum membership of the house as allotted by the Constitution of India is 552 before the abolition of Anglo-Indian seats, currently it is 550.[1] As of 2025, the house has 543 elected members. Between 1952 and 2020, two additional members of the Anglo-Indian community were nominated by the president of India on the advice of the Indian government, and the practice was abolished in January 2020 by the 104th amendment to the Indian constitution.[2][3] The new parliament has a maximum seating capacity for 888 members in Lok Sabha.[4]
About 131 seats (24.03%) are reserved for representatives of scheduled castes (84) and scheduled tribes (47). The quorum for the House is 10% of the total membership the house. Unless dissolved sooner, the house continues to operate for five years from the date of its first meeting. However, when a state of emergency in India is declared, this period may be extended by the parliament of India by law or decree.[5][6] The 18th Lok Sabha is the latest to be elected in May 2024.[7] The Lok Sabha proceedings are televised live on Sansad TV, operating from within the parliament premises.[8]
An exercise to redraw the boundaries of the Lok Sabha constituencies is carried out by the delimitation commission. It is carried out every decade based on the census of India, the last of which was conducted in 2011.[9] This provision was temporarily suspended between 1976 and 2001 following a constitutional amendment to incentivize the family planning program which was being implemented.[10] The elections for the seats are conducted by the election commission.
- ^ "Lok Sabha". . Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ "Anglo Indian Representation To Lok Sabha, State Assemblies Done Away; SC-ST Reservation Extended For 10 Years: Constitution (104th Amendment) Act To Come Into Force On 25th Jan". Live law. 23 January 2020. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- ^ "The Constitution (One hundred and fourth amendment) Act, 2019" (PDF). The Gazette of India Extraordinary. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
- ^ Shankar, B.L.; Rodrigues, Valerian (13 January 2011). The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The Indian Parliament. Oxford University Press. pp. 292–328. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198067726.003.0008. ISBN 978-0-19-806772-6. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ "Parliament of India: Lok Sabha". Parliament of India. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ "Part V—The Union. Article 83" (PDF). Government of India. p. 40. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- ^ "PM Modi's New Cabinet Could See Prestige Posts For Smriti Irani, Bengal". NDTV. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
- ^ "Sansad TV Live". Sansad TV. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
- ^ "A decade from now, three states will contribute a third of Lok Sabha MPs". 6 May 2016. Archived from the original on 8 May 2016.
- ^ "Electoral system". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 5 January 2007.