The Lok Sabha, or the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, making it a legislative institution. Its origin is rooted in the post-independence need for a directly elected body to represent the will of the people, replacing the limited legislative councils of the British era. The Lok Sabha was formally constituted for the first time on April 17, 1952, following the first General Elections held from October 25, 1951, to February 21, 1952.
The mechanism of the Lok Sabha is defined by the Constitution of India, which states in Article 79 that the Parliament consists of the President and the two Houses: the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by citizens above 18 years of age based on universal adult suffrage and the first-past-the-post system. Article 81 outlines the composition, which currently has 543 elected members, with a constitutional maximum of 550 members from the States and Union Territories. The term of the House is five years, unless dissolved earlier by the President. A key power is its ability to remove the Council of Ministers through a vote of no-confidence, making it the chamber where the executive is accountable. Furthermore, Money Bills can only be introduced in the Lok Sabha.
The Lok Sabha connects directly to the Rajya Sabha (the upper house) and the President of India to complete the legislative process. A significant recent change is the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023 (also known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam), which mandates a one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. This provision, however, will only take effect after a delimitation exercise based on the next census. The provision for the President to nominate two members of the Anglo-Indian community under Article 331 was not extended after the Constitution (One Hundred and Fourth Amendment) Act, 2019, effectively removing the nominated seats.