What is the eligibility criteria for an MP?- Know about their responsibilities and disqualification grounds

A Member of Parliament holds a very powerful role in a parliamentary democracy like India. There are 542 members in Lok Sabha. All of them are members of parliament. They are directly elected by the citizens of the country based on the Universal adult franchise.

Whereas, the Rajya Sabha consists of 250 members which are directly elected by members of legislative assemblies of states. In this article, you will get to know about the eligibility criteria for becoming an MP, their responsibilities, and their disqualification grounds. So, without further ado, let’s get started. 

Members of Parliament: Eligibility Criteria

As per article 84 of the constitution, individuals are eligible to become members of Parliament if;

• They are citizens of India
• Fall under the age limit of 30 years in the case of Rajya Sabha and 25 years in the case of Lok Sabha
• Possess additional qualifications as per parliamentary laws. These qualifications are as follows;
• The first qualification is that only electors can be elected. Therefore, candidates must be registered voters in a parliamentary constituency and must be eligible to vote. If due to any reason, they lose the eligibility to vote, they would also lose the eligibility to stand in an election.
• A person doesn't need to be a registered voter in the same constituency. This applies to both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. 

Members of Parliament: Responsibility 

Some of the major responsibilities of the members of parliament are; 

• Legislative role: The foremost role of an MP is to act as a legislator. As per Article 111 of the Indian constitution, a bill becomes a law only after it gets passed by both houses of parliament and approved by the President. Under Article 100, for an ordinary bill to get approved more than 50% of the MPs present in the house must vote in favor of that bill to get passed. However, in the case of the Constitutional Amendment Bill under Article 368, a special majority of MPs (more than 50%) need to vote in favor of the bill to get passed. Additionally, the role of the MPs comes in during the introduction of a bill in either house of parliament. They debate several provisions of the bill and can also suggest amendments to the bill. 
• Deliberative role: As per the Indian Constitutional scheme, the Government holds accountability to the legislature. Here, the role of MPs is to ask questions to government ministers through parliamentary interventions such as Zero hours, Question hours, No-confidence motions, etc. These questions can also be related to the constituency the MP represents. 
• Electoral role: Another responsibility of MPs include participating in the election of the President and vice president. An MP of Lok Sabha elects the Speaker and Deputy Speaker. However, a Rajya Sabha MP elects the vice-chairman of the Rajya Sabha. 

Members of Parliament: Disqualification grounds 

As per article 102 of the Indian constitution, members of Parliament can be disqualified from their role under the below conditions; 

• If they get declared mentally unsound by the court.
• They hold any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State
• They are undischarged insolvent.
• They are no longer an Indian citizen and have voluntarily acquired citizenship of another state.
• They are disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament.
• They have been found guilty of certain offenses and corrupt practices.
• They have been convicted for promoting rivalry between groups. 
• They have been dismissed from government service on the grounds of corruption and disloyalty to the state.