Civics: The union legislature and The union parliament, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Members and Qualification

Legislature: A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for political entity such as a state or city.

Parliament: The parliament is the body of people's representatives who have supreme power of governance in a democratic country. Parliament is the highest legislative body of the government.

Federal: Federal system relates to a system of government in which several states are united and governed centrally by the union government and te states remain independent as separate units constituting a federation

Federal Setup: A federal setup of government divides administrative powers between the central and state governments by the constitution and both are supreme between their respective spheres

Importance of Federal Setup

• India is a large country; hence this division is essential to maintain unity and integrity
• It is suitable for India due to the inherent diversity of our country
• Division of legislative and administrative powers between the union and state governments with supreme court at the apex to look after the distribution of powers.
• With a bicameral legislature(two houses), the states get an opportunity to be a part of the functioning of the government(Rajya Sabha members are mainly representative of states)

Non Federal Features / Unitary Features

• A Strong Centre
• Single constitution for union and the states
• Flexibility of constitution
• Single citizenship
• Inequality of representation in the Rajya Sabha
• Existence of union territories

The Union Parliament

The Union legislative comprises the president and the two houses of parliament, the house of the people (Lok Sabha) and the council of the states (Rajya Sabha).

Lok Sabha: House of the People, they sit in Parliament, generally referred as Member of Parliament or MP.

Lok Sabha Members are directly elected through the Universal Adult Franchise (Public Voting) through secret ballot. 

Lok Sabha Term: 5 Years in general.

• Can be less than 5 years when the house (Parliament) is divided by the president on the advice of the prime minister.
• It is more than five years in case of emergency

Lok Sabha Composition: Max Strength 552

• 530 members representatives from states
• 20 members representatives from union territories
• 2 members (Anglo Indians) nominated by the president

Lok Sabha Member Qualification

• He / She should be an Indian citizen
• Should be at least 25 years of age
• Should have his name in the electoral rolls in some part of the country
• Should not be an insolvent
• Should not hold any office of profit under the government
• Should not be a proclaimed criminal
• Should not be of unsound mind

Disqualification of Lok Sabha / Rajya Sabha Membership 

• If a member holds any office of profit under the court of India or the government of any state (other than an office exempted by Parliament by law)
• If He / She is of unsound mind and is proved so by a competent court.
• If he / she is an undischarged insolvent
• If he / she is not a citizen of India or has voluntarily acquired citizenship of a foreign state
• If he / she is disqualified by or under any law made by the parliament 

Vacation of Seat from Lok Sabha / Rajya Sabha

• Resignation of a member in writing to the speaker (Lok Sabha) or Chairman (Rajya Sabha) of the house.
• Absence of a member without permission of the house from all meetings for a period of 60 days (including the time when the house is prorogued or adjourned for more than 4 days)
• If a member becomes subject to any of the disqualification laid down in the constitution or an act of parliament
• If a person is already a member of the state legislature and is elected to the parliament he has to vacate his seat in state legislature or vice versa
• If a person is disqualified from being a member on grounds of defection under "anti-defection law" 

According the anti-defection law, when a member of a house gives up the membership of his party or votes against the direction given by the party to which he belongs, he shall be disqualified from being a member of the house, provided there is not a split in the party with at least one third of its members.