Author(s): Shreshth Bhatnagar
India is a federal republic with 29 states and 9 union territories. It has a parliamentary democracy which operates under the constitution of 1950. There is a bicameral federal parliament: the Rajya Sabha or council of states (upper house) and the Lok Sabha or house of the people (lower house) [1].
The Lok Sabha has 545 members, 543 representing the states and union territories – 79 seats are reserved for scheduled castes and 40 for scheduled tribes – and two additional seats reserved for the Anglo-Indian community. Members are elected, on a first-pastthe-post system in single-member constituencies, every five years or less, based on universal suffrage.