1.
Lok Sabha
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The Lok Sabha is the Lower house of Indias bicameral Parliament, with the Upper house being the Rajya Sabha. The house meets in the Lok Sabha Chambers of the Sansad Bhavan in New Delhi, under the current laws, the strength of Lok Sabha is 545, including the two seats reserved for members of the Anglo-Indian community. The total elective membership is distributed among the states in proportion to their population, a total of 131 seats are reserved for representatives of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The quorum for the House is 10% of the total membership, term of the House The Lok Sabha, unless sooner dissolved, continues to operate for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting and the expiration of the period of five years. An exercise to redraw Lok Sabha constituencies boundaries has been carried out by the Delimitation Commission based on the Indian census of 2001, the 16th Lok Sabha was elected in May 2014 and is the latest to date. The Lok Sabha has its own channel, Lok Sabha TV. A major portion of the Indian subcontinent was under British rule from 1858 to 1947, the Indian Councils Act 1861 provided for a Legislative Council consisting of the members of the Executive Council and non-official members. The Indian Councils Act 1892 established legislatures in each of the provinces of British India, although these Acts increased the representation of Indians in the government, their power still remained limited, and the electorate very small. The Indian Councils Act 1909 and the Government of India Act 1919 further expanded the participation of Indians in the administration, the Constituent Assembly was divided into two for the separate nations, with each new Assembly having sovereign powers transferred to it for the respective dominion. The Constitution of India was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950, proclaiming India to be a sovereign, democratic republic. This contained the principles of the law of the land which would govern India in its new form. The Lok Sabha was duly constituted for the first time on 17 April 1952 after the first General Elections held from 25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952 and he / She should not be less than 25 years of age. He / She possesses such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament, a seat in the Lok Sabha will become vacant in the following circumstances, When the holder of the seat, by writing to the speaker, resigns. When the holder of the seat is absent from 60 consecutive days of proceedings of the House, when the holder of the seat is subject to any disqualifications mentioned in the Constitution or any law enacted by Parliament. A seat may also be vacated when the holder stands disqualified under the Anti-Defection Law, a member both of Parliament and of a House of the Legislature of a State. System of elections in Lok Sabha Members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the people of India, for the purpose of holding direct elections to Lok Sabha, each state is divided into territorial constituencies. This provision does not apply for states having a population of less than 6 million, note, The expression population here refers to the population ascertained at the preceding census of which relevant figure have been published. Lok Sabha has certain powers that make it more powerful than the Rajya Sabha, motions of no confidence against the government can be introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha
2.
Indian general election, 1998
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General elections were held in India in 1998, after the government elected in 1996 collapsed and the 12th Lok Sabha was convened. New elections were called when Indian National Congress left the United Front government led by I. K, the outcome of the new elections was also indecisive, with no party or alliance able to create a strong majority. This led to a motion in the parliament, where the government lost by 272-273. It also marked the first time since independence that Indias long-time governing party, state Assembly elections in India,1998 Election Commission of India Indian presidential election,1997
3.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
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Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian politician who was the 10th Prime Minister of India, first for 13 days in 1996 and then from 1998 to 2004. A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, he is the first Prime Minister from outside the Indian National Congress party to serve a full five-year term, a parliamentarian for over four decades, Vajpayee was elected to the Lok Sabha ten times, and twice to the Rajya Sabha. He also served as the Member of Parliament for Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, until 2009, Vajpayee was one amongst the founder members of erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh, which he had also headed. He was also the Minister of External Affairs in the cabinet of Morarji Desai, when Janata government collapsed, Vajpayee restarted the Jana Sangh as the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980. On 25 December 2014 the office of President of India announced the Bharat Ratna award, Indias highest civilian honour, in a special gesture, the President of India conferred Bharat Ratna to Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his residence on 27 March 2015. His birthday,25 December, was declared Good Governance Day, Vajpayee was born to Krishna Devi and Krishna Bihari Vajpayee on 25 December 1924 in Gwalior. His grandfather, Pandit Shyam Lal Vajpayee, had migrated to Morena and his father, Krishna Bihari Vajpayee, was a poet and a schoolmaster in his hometown. Vajpayee studied from the Government Higher secondary school, Gorkhi, Bara, Vajpayee attended Gwaliors Victoria College and graduated with distinction in Hindi, English and Sanskrit. He completed his post-graduation with an M. A. in Political Science from Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College, Kanpur and his activism started with Arya Kumar Sabha of Gwalior, the youth wing of the Arya Samaj, of which he became the General Secretary in 1944. He also joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as a swayamsevak in 1939, influenced by Babasaheb Apte, he attended the Officers Training Camp of the RSS during 1940-44 and became a full-time worker in 1947, technically a pracharak. He gave up studying law due to the partition riots and he was sent as a vistarak to Uttar Pradesh and quickly began working for the newspapers of Deendayal Upadhyaya, Rashtradharma, Panchjanya and the dailies Swadesh and Veer Arjun. Vajpayee never married and has remained a bachelor his entire life, in 1951, he was seconded by the RSS, along with Deendayal Upadhyaya, to work for the newly formed Bharatiya Jana Sangh, a Hindu right-wing political party associated with the RSS. He was appointed as a secretary of the party in charge of the Northern region. He soon became a follower and aide of party leader Syama Prasad Mookerjee, in 1954, Vajpayee was with Mookerjee when he went on a fast-unto-death in Kashmir to protest against perceived inferior treatment of non-Kashmiri Indian visitors to the state. Mookerjee died in prison during this strike, in 1957, Vajpayee lost to Raja Mahendra Pratap in Mathura for the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Indias Parliament, but was elected from Balrampur. There, his skills so impressed Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that he predicted that Vajpayee would someday become Indias Prime Minister. By virtue of his oratorical and organizational skills, he became the face of the Jana Sangh, after the death of Deendayal Upadhyaya, the mantle of the leadership of Jana Sangh fell on the shoulders of a young Vajpayee. He became the president of the Jana Sangh in 1968 and, along with Nanaji Deshmukh, Balraj Madhok and L. K. Advani
4.
K. R. Narayanan
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Kocheril Raman Narayanan was the tenth President of India. He served as ambassador to Japan, United Kingdom, Thailand, Turkey, Peoples Republic of China, elected as the ninth Vice President in 1992, Narayanan went on to become President in 1997. He was the first – and, so far, only – member of the Dalit community, Narayanan is regarded as an independent and assertive President who set several precedents and enlarged the scope of the highest constitutional office. His family was poor, but his father was respected for his medical acumen, Narayanan had his early schooling in Uzhavoor at the Government Lower Primary School, Kurichithanam and Our Lady of Lourdes Upper Primary School, Uzhavoor. He walked to school for about 15 kilometres daily through paddy fields and he often listened to school lessons while standing outside the classroom, having been barred from attending because tuition fees were outstanding. He matriculated from St. Marys High School, Kuravilangad and he completed his intermediate at C. M. S. College, Kottayam, aided by a scholarship from the Travancore Royal family. Narayanan obtained his B. A. and M. A. in English literature from the University of Travancore, with his family facing grave difficulties, he left for Delhi and worked for some time as a journalist with The Hindu and The Times of India. During this time he once interviewed Mahatma Gandhi in Bombay on his own volition, Narayanan then went to England and studied political science under Harold Laski at the London School of Economics, he also attended lectures by Karl Popper, Lionel Robbins, and Friedrich Hayek. He obtained the degree of B. Sc. with a specialisation in political science, helped by a scholarship from J. R. D. Tata, during his years in London, he was active in the India League under V. K. Krishna Menon. He was also the London correspondent of the Social Welfare Weekly published by K. M. Munshi and he shared lodgings with K. N. Raj and Veerasamy Ringadoo, another close friend was Pierre Trudeau. When Narayanan returned to India in 1948, Laski gave him a letter of introduction to Prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Years later, he narrated how he began his career in the service, When I finished with LSE, Laski, of his own. On reaching Delhi I sought an appointment with the PM, I suppose, because I was an Indian student returning home from London, I was given a time-slot. It was here in Parliament House that he met me and we talked for a few minutes about London and things like that and I could soon see that it was time for me to leave. So I said goodbye and as I left the room I handed over the letter from Laski, when I was half way round, I heard the sound of someone clapping from the direction I had just come. I turned to see Panditji beckoning me to come back and he had opened the letter as I left his room and read it. Why didnt you give this to me earlier, I thought it would be enough if I just handed it over while leaving
5.
Indian general election, 1999
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General Elections were held in India from 5 September to 3 October 1999, a few months after the Kargil War. Thus shortly after the no confidence motion, President K. R. Narayanan dissolved the Parliament, atal Bihari Vajpayee remained caretaker prime minister till the elections were held later that year. The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party went into the election as the head of the National Democratic Alliance, several other parties in the election not part of the NDA also committed themselves to supporting a BJP led government on matters of confidence. The main opposition league was led by Sonia Gandhis Indian National Congress, the opposition coalition comprised far fewer parties, and its alliances were generally weaker than those of the NDA. There were also nearly one thousand candidates of unaffiliated parties, independent candidates and parties who were unwilling to part in coalitions that stood in the election. The campaign coalesced around a few key issues, Sonia Gandhi was a relative newcomer to the INC and her leadership had recently been challenged by Maharastrian INC leader Sharad Pawar, on the grounds of her Italian birth. This led to a crisis within the INC that persisted during the election and was capitalised upon by the BJP. The BJP campaigned strongly on the back of these achievements, as well as cultivating some sympathy for the predicament which had led to the governments downfall. Perhaps most decisive though in the BJPs campaign was the alliance it had cultivated. These final factors were to prove decisive in the outcome of 1999. The voting was conducted five days. Despite some fears of voter fatigue, electoral turnout was comparable with previous elections at 59. 99%, over 5 million election officials conducted the election over 800,000 polling stations, with vote counting commencing on 6 October. The Congress party lost 23 seats, and its two key regional allies performed worse than expected, however it did regain ground in some such as Uttar Pradesh. The leftist parties’ fortunes continued to decline, with the Communist Party of India dropping to just four seats and we will attend to this in the coming days. In the meantime, we accept unhesitatingly the verdict of the people, for the BJP, this marked the first occasion where a non-INC party had secured a stable government coalition. Previous non-INC governing coalitions had been formed in 1977,1989 and 1996, one Senior BJP figure commented in the aftermath It will certainly be a government of stability. I expect that Mr Vajpayee, with all his experience, will be able to handle our coalition partners. Source, Electoral Commission of India, Statistical Report on General Elections,1999 to the 13th Lok Sabha Election Commission of India
6.
13th Lok Sabha
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The 13th Lok Sabha is the thirteenth session of the Lok Sabha. It was convened after Indian general election,1999 held during September–October 1999 and continued until June 2004 and this majority group in the Lok Sabha during this period was the National Democratic Alliance, a rightist group led by the Bharatiya Janata Party. The NDA, under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee completed its term till the general elections of May 2004
7.
Speaker of the Lok Sabha
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The Speaker of the Lok Sabha is the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. Their role is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in countries that use the government. The speaker is elected in the very first meeting of the Lok Sabha following general elections, serving for a term of five years, they are chosen from amongst the members of the Lok Sabha, and is by convention a member of the ruling party or alliance. The current speaker is Sumitra Mahajan of the Bharatiya Janata Party and she is the second woman to hold the office, after her immediate predecessor Meira Kumar. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha conducts the business in house and they maintain discipline and decorum in the house and can punish a member for their unruly behaviour by suspending them. They also permit the moving of various kinds of motions and resolutions such as a motion of no confidence, motion of adjournment, motion of censure, the Speaker decides on the agenda to be taken up for discussion during the meeting. The date of election of speaker is fixed by the President, further, all comments and speeches made by members of the House are addressed to the speaker. The speaker also presides over the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, the counterpart of the Speaker in the Rajya Sabha is the Chairman, who is the Vice President of India. In the warrant of precedence, the speaker of Lok Sabha comes next only to The Deputy Prime Minister of India, Speaker has the sixth rank in the political executive of India. Speaker can be removed by the Lok Sabha by a resolution passed by a majority of all the members of the House per Articles 94 and 96. Speaker is also removed on getting disqualified for being Lok Sabha member under sections 7 &8 of Representation of the People Act,1951 and this would arise out of speakers wrong certification of a bill as money bill inconsistent with the definition given in Articles 110 of the constitution. The appointment has to be approved by the president, the first meeting after the election when the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are selected by members of the Parliament is held under the pro tem Speaker. In absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker acts as Speaker, the names, terms of office and Lok Sabhas were taken from, Former Speakers. The Office of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Office of the Lok Sabha Speaker
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