Amazing Facts about Indian Parliament

indian parliament.JPG

The biggest law making assembly of India is Parliament, which constitutes President, Lok Sabha, and Rajya Sabha.
The Parliamentary Set up of India is like British and it is located in New Delhi.
Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker are the architects who designed the model of Parliament. The stone laying for the inauguration of constructing parliament was made in 1921 February 12. The construction was completed in 1927 January 18 after 6 years.
The inauguration of parliament building was made by the then Indian Viceroy, Lord Irwin. The area of Parliament compound is about 6 Acres. There are 12 doors for entry into the parliament. The central hall is located in the middle of parliament mandir. It was in central hall, the transfer of british governance to Indians took place and was in 1947 August 15.
The area of Lok Sabha Hall in Parliament is 446 square meter. The seats in lok sabha are arranged in the manner of Horse Shed. There are around 550 seats for the members of Lok Sabha. The floor is covered with green color carpet in Lok Sabha. The members of ruling party are seated in right side, whereas opposition party members are seated in left side of Lok Sabha.
Red colored carpet is covered in the floors of Rajya Sabha. There are around 250 seats for the members in Rajya Sabha. The seats in Rajya Sabha are arranged in the manner of Semi Circle.
The members of Rajya Sabha were elected directly by the people. The duration of each member of Lok Sabha is five years. The meeting in Lok Sabha is organized once between six months. Speaker is the chairperson of Lok Sabha.
President can arrange the joined meeting of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Lok Sabha Speaker is the chairperson of joined meeting of both members of Lok Sabha and Parliament. The minimum age for becoming the member of Lok Sabha is 25. Only president has the power to dismiss the assembly of Lok Sabha. GV Mavalankar is the first Lok Sabha speaker of parliament.
Pro tem Speaker is the chairperson of first meeting of newly elected Lok Sabha members. Normally the person having high age among the elected members is appointed as Pro tem Speaker.
President would appoint the Pro tem Speaker.
Deputy Speaker is the assistant chairperson of Lok Sabha.
M Ananthasayanam Ayyangar is the first Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker. Budgets were presented in Lok Sabha.
The total members, Lok Sabha can accommodate is 552. Currently there are 545 members in Lok Sabha.
President will nominate two Anglo Indians for each Lok Sabha Assembly.
Lok Sabha came into existence in 1952 April 17. The first meeting was conducted in 1952 May 13. Rajya Sabha is the continuous assembly of Parliament and it cannot be dismissed. Six years is the duration of each Rajya Sabha assembly.
The total members of Rajya Sabha are 250. Of these 250 members, 12 members were nominated by the president. It was in 1952 April 3, Rajya Sabha came into existence.

First Union Cabinet of India

Jawaharlal Nehru - Prime Minister, External affairs, Commonwealth Relations and Scientific research.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel - Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister
Syama Prasad Mukerjee - Industry and Supply
Shanmugham Chetty - Finance
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad - Education
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar - Law
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur – Health
Dr. Rajendra Prasad - Food and Agriculture
Rafi Ahmed Kidwai - Communications
Babu Jagjivan Ram - Labour
Baldev Singh - Defence
Narhar Vishnu Gadgil - Public works and Mines and Power
C.H. Bhaba - Commerce
N. Gopala Swami Ayyangar - Non Portfolio Minister
Dr. John Mathai - became Minister of Finance, Railway and Transport followed by Shanmugam Chetty.
K.C. Neogy took ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation
Jairamdas Daulatram as minister of food and agricultural followed by Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

Amazing Facts about Indian Prime Ministers

Prime Minister for the longest period - Jawaharlal Nehru (17 years)
The first woman prime minister is Indira Gandhi.
Prime Minister for shortest term – Charan Singh (5 months, 16 days)
The oldest prime minister to assume office is Morarji Desai (at the age of 81).
The youngest prime minister to assume office is Rajiv Gandhi (age : 40).
The first Prime Minister to lose election is Indira Gandhi (in 1977)
First woman prime minister of India is Indira Gandhi.
The first Prime Minister to resign is Morarji Desai.
The oldest to be the Prime Minister is Morarji Desai.
The first Prime Minister to die in harness is Jawaharlal Nehru.
The first Prime Minister to die in harness abroad is Lal Bahadur Shastri (at Tashkent in 1966).
The first Prime Minister to get assassinated is Indira Gandhi (1984).
The first acting Prime Minister of India is Gulzarilal Nanda (interim PM on two occasions - After the demise of Nehru and again after the sudden demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri).
The Prime Minister who never faced the parliament is Charan Singh.
The Prime Minister who ruled for the shortest term is Charan Singh.
The first Prime Minister to lose a ‘vote of confidence' is VP. Singh.
The Prime Minister of the second shortest term is AS. Chandrasekhar.
The Prime Minister of the shortest term in one spell is AB. Vajpayee (16 May 1996 – 01 June 1996).
First Prime Minister from Karnataka – Dev Gowda
First Prime Minister from BJP is AB. Vajpayee.
Vajpayee became the Prime Minister of India for three times (1996, 1998, 1999).
The Prime Minister who made Lahore bus journey is AB. Vajpayee.
Prime Minister of India at the time of Kargil War is AB. Vajpayee
First Bachelor Prime Minister is AB. Vajpayee.
First Indian Prime Minister to speak in Hindi in UN General Assembly is AB. Vajpayee.
The RBI Governor who became the Prime Minister of India is Dr. Manmohan Singh.
Youngest Prime Minister is Rajiv Gandhi.
First acting Prime Minister is Gulzarilal Nanda (Interim PM on two occasions – After the demise of Jawaharlal Nehru and again after the sudden demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri.)
First minority Government is VP. Singh Government.
Fir non-Congress Government is Morarji Desai Government (Janatha Praty).
First Prime Minister to lead a minority government for a full term (five years) is PV. Narasimha Rao (21 June 1991 – 16 May 1996).
First Sikh Prime Minister is Manmohan Singh (2004 - 2014).
15th Prime Minister of India is Narendra Modi.
First Prime Minister to be born after India’s Independence is Narendra Modi (17 September 1950).

Period of Prime Ministers

Jawaharlal Nehru – 1947 -1964
Gulzarilal Nanda (temporary) – 1964
Lal Bahadur Shastri – 1964 – 1966
Gulzarilal Nanda (temporary) – 1966
Indira Gandhi – 1966 – 1977
Morarji Desai – 1977 – 1979
Charan Singh – 1979 – 1980
Indira Gandhi – 1980 – 1984
Rajiv Gandhi – 1984 – 1989
VP Singh – 1989 – 1990
Chandra Sekhar – 1990 – 1991
PV. Narasimha Rao – 1991 – 1996
AB. Vajpayee – 1996
HD. Deva Gowda – 1996 – 1997
IK. Gujral – 1997 – 1998
AB. Vajpayee – 1998 – 2004
Dr. Manmohan Singh – 2004 – 2014
Narendra Modi – 2014 – continuing.

President of India

President is considered as the first citizen of Nation. One has to complete his 35 years of age for becoming President. Five years is the period of President. President is considered as the national leader for all defense army including militant, navel and air force. Indian President is elected by the members of legislative assemblies of each state.

In case, a president lost his power, the next president should be elected within 6 months after losing Ex-president’s power. President should submit his resignation letter to vice president. Newly elected president should take his pledge (affidavit) in front of chief justice of Supreme Court. Rashtrapati Bhavan (President House) is the official residence of an Indian President. Mughal Garden is located inside the compound of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Edwin Lutyens is the chief architect of Rashtrapati Bhavan. There are 340 rooms inside Rashtrapati Bhavan. Impeachment is the act involved for dismissing the power of President.

Presidents and their Importance

Dr.S. Radhakrishnan is the only president who is considered as Philosopher. Dr Rajendra Prasad is the only president who became president consecutively for two times. Dr. Zakir Hussain is the first Muslim president of India. He is also the first president, who passed away while serving as President. Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy is the least aged president of India and he is also the only president who became Lok Sabha Speaker. Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy is the first president who won the election without any opposition.

R. Venkat Raman is the most aged President till now. VV.Giri is the president who won the election for least difference of votes from runner up. He is also the first acting president of India. Pratibha Patil is the first women president of India.

Presidents and their periods:

Dr Rajendra Prasad – 1950 – 1961
Dr S. Radhakrishnan – 1962 – 1967
Dr Zakir Hussain – 1967 – 1969
VV.Giri – 1969 – 1974
Fakruddin Ali Ahmed – 1974 – 1977
Neelam Sanjeev Reddy – 1977 – 1982
Giani Zail Singh – 1982 – 1987
R. Venkita Raman – 1987 – 1992
Dr Shankar Dayal Sharma – 1992 – 1997
KR. Narayanan – 1997 – 2002
Dr. APJ. Abdul Kalam – 2002 – 2007
Pratiba Patil – 2007 – 2012
Pranab Mukherjee – 2012 – 2017
Ram Nath Kovind – 2017 – Continuing

Vice President

The minimum age required for becoming Indian vice president is 35 years. The ruling period of vice president is 5 years. Vice president serves the duties of president on his absence. Vice president is elected by all the members of both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. President is the chair person of Rajya Sabha. Newly elected vice president would take his pledge in front of president. There is no special act mentioned in Indian constitution for dismissing vice president.

Vice Presidents and their Periods

Dr S. Radhakrishnan – 1952 – 1967
Dr Zakir Hussain – 1962 – 1967
VV. Giri – 1967 – 1969
Gopal Swarup Pathak – 1969 – 1974
B. D. Jatti – 1974 – 1979
Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah – 1979 – 1984
R. Venkita Raman – 1984 – 1987
Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma – 1987 – 1992
KR. Narayanan – 1992 – 1997
Krishan Kant – 1997 – 2002
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat – 2002 – 2007
Mohammad Hamid Ansari – 2007 – 2017
M. Venkaiah Naidu – 2017 – continuing

Acting Presidents:

VV.Giri – 3 May 1969 – 20 July 1969
Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah – 20 July 1969 – 24 August 1969 (only supreme court chief justice to manage this position)
B. D. Jatti – 11 February 1977 – 25 July 1977

Women in Lok Sabha

Indira Gandhi is the Indian women who became prime minister for four times.
Sonia Gandhi is the first women opposition leader of Indian Parliament. She became the opposition leader for INC during 13th lok sabha assembly from 1999.
49 womens elected as members during 13th lok sabha assembly (1999) and it is also the highest women contributed lok sabha assembly.
19 womens elected during 6th lok sabha assembly (1977) and it is the least women contributed assembly.

Lok Sabha Speaker:

Speaker is the chairperson of Lok Sabha Assembly.
Speaker is also the chairperson of all party organisations of parliament.
GMC. Balayogi is the lok sabha speaker who died on helicopter crash.
Lok Sabha speaker will appoint the chairman of Parliamentary committee.
Meira Kumar is the first women lok sabha speaker.
Speaker and Deputy Speaker were elected by the lok sabha members.
Deputy speaker will manage the assembly matters in the absence of speaker.
Speaker would not lose his position, whenever the assembly is dismissed. Speaker will continue his position till the next speaker is elected, after the first meeting of members of newly elected lok sabha assembly.
The position of speaker in assembly is an idea borrowed from British Politics.
Speaker will attest whether the bill presented in parliament is either money bill or not.
The joint session of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha is presided by the Speaker of Lok Sabha.
The first Lok Sabha Speaker - G.V. Mavlankar.
First one to die in harness is G.V. Mavlankar.
Second Lok Sabha speaker to die in harness is G.M.C. Balayogi.
Longest Serving Speaker - Balram Jakhar (9 years 10 months and 27 days).
First Woman Speaker is Meira Kumar
Second Woman Speaker - Sumitra Mahajan