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    Types of Majorities in The Indian Parliament - Indian Polity

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    Praveen Kumar
    There are four types of majorities required in the Indian Parliament: simple majority, absolute majority, effective majority, and special majority. A simple majority means more than 50% of members present and voting, while an absolute majority means more than 50% of the total membership. An effective majority refers to more than 50% of the effective strength. Special majorities have different requirements according to the article of the constitution, such as 2/3rds of members for some articles. These different majority types are required for different types of bills and decisions.

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    Types of Majorities in The Indian Parliament - Indian Polity

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    Praveen Kumar
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    There are four types of majorities required in the Indian Parliament: simple majority, absolute majority, effective majority, and special majority. A simple majority means more than 50% of members present and voting, while an absolute majority means more than 50% of the total membership. An effective majority refers to more than 50% of the effective strength. Special majorities have different requirements according to the article of the constitution, such as 2/3rds of members for some articles. These different majority types are required for different types of bills and decisions.

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    There are four types of majorities required in the Indian Parliament: simple majority, absolute majority, effective majority, and special majority. A simple majority means more than 50% of members present and voting, while an absolute majority means more than 50% of the total membership. An effective majority refers to more than 50% of the effective strength. Special majorities have different requirements according to the article of the constitution, such as 2/3rds of members for some articles. These different majority types are required for different types of bills and decisions.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    144 views3 pages

    Types of Majorities in The Indian Parliament - Indian Polity

    Uploaded by

    Praveen Kumar
    There are four types of majorities required in the Indian Parliament: simple majority, absolute majority, effective majority, and special majority. A simple majority means more than 50% of members present and voting, while an absolute majority means more than 50% of the total membership. An effective majority refers to more than 50% of the effective strength. Special majorities have different requirements according to the article of the constitution, such as 2/3rds of members for some articles. These different majority types are required for different types of bills and decisions.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 3

    Types of Majorities in the Indian Parliament - Indian

    Polity

    India follows a parliamentary democracy. In a parliamentary democracy, all major decisions are taken by
    the Parliament. To pass bill to make them laws, the Parliament needs to pass them with a majority. There
    are different types of majorities in the Indian Parliament.

    Types of Majorities in Indian Parliament


    Although the Constitution of India does not provide an explicit classification for the kinds of majorities
    needed for passing various kinds of bills, a careful interpretation of the Constitution provide four major
    types of majorities.

    They are as follows:


    1. Simple
    2. Absolute
    3. Effective
    4. Special

    Simple Majority
     This refers to a majority of more than 50% of the members present and voting in the House.
     Also known as Functional or Working majority.
     This is the most commonly used type of majority.
     When the law does not specify the kind of majority needed, simple majority is used for passing bills
    or motions.
     Ordinary bills require only a simple majority.
     For example, in the Lok Sabha, out of the total strength of 545, suppose 45 were absent and 100
    abstained from voting. This means, only 400 members were present and voting. In this case, the
    simple majority needed is 201 (50% + 1).
     Instances where a simple majority is needed:
    o To pass money/financial/ordinary bills
    o To pass Adjournment Motion/Non-Confidence Motion/Censure Motion/Confidence Motion
    o To declare financial emergency
    o To declare President’s Rule (state emergency)
    o To remove the Vice President, simple majority is needed in the Lok Sabha
    o To elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha
    o Constitution Amendment Bill under Article 368 which needs to be ratified by the states, need
    only a simple majority at the State Legislatures.

    Absolute Majority
     This refers to a majority of more than 50% of the House’s total membership.
     This means that in the Lok Sabha, absolute majority is 273. (50% more than 545, the total
    membership of the Lok Sabha).
     Instances where an absolute majority is needed:
    o Used during the general elections, for government formation at the Centre and the States.

    Effective Majority
     This refers to a majority of more than 50% of the effective strength of the House.
     For example, in the Lok Sabha, out of the total strength of 545, suppose 5 are vacant seats and 50
    members decide to abstain. This means, the effective strength of the House is (545 - 5) - 50 = 490.
    In this case, the effective majority is 246.
     In the Constitution, effective majority is mentioned as “all the then members”.
     Instances where an effective majority is needed:
    o Removal of the Vice President in the Rajya Sabha (Article 67(b)).
    o Removal of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the State
    Legislatures.

    Special Majority
    Any majority other than simple, absolute and effective are called Special Majorities. There are four types of
    special majorities. They are as follows:
    a. Special Majority according to Article 249
    b. Special Majority according to Article 368
    c. Special Majority according to Article 368 + 50 percent state ratification by a simple majority
    d. Special Majority according to Article 61

    Special Majority according to Article 249

    This refers to a majority of 2/3rd members present and voting. This is used to pass a Rajya Sabha
    resolution to empower the Parliament to make laws in the State List.

    Special Majority according to Article 368

    This refers to a majority of 2/3rd members present and voting supported by over 50% of the total strength
    of the House. This is chiefly used for most of the Constitution Amendment Bills.
    Instances where this type of majority is used:
    1. Passing a constitutional amendment bill which does not affect federalism.
    2. Removing judges of the Supreme Court or High Court.
    3. Removing the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) or the Chief Election Commissioner
    (CEC).
    4. National emergency
    5. Resolution by the State Legislature for the abolition or creation of the Legislative Council.

    Special Majority according to Article 368 + 50 percent state ratification by a simple majority
    This type of majority is needed when a constitutional amendment tries to change the federal structure.
    E.g. The bill that introduced the National Judicial Appointments Commission. It needed the support of at
    least 15 state legislatures out of the 29 states.

    Special Majority according to Article 61

    This refers to a majority of 2/3rd of the total strength of the House. This is used in the case of impeachment
    of the President of India.

    UPSC Questions related to types of Majorities in the Indian Parliament

    How many types of majority are there?

    There are four types of majorities in the Indian Parliament.

    How much majority in the parliament is required to amend any part of the Indian
    Constitution?

    A special majority is needed for the amendment of the Constitution.

    Can President reject a bill?

    The President can give his assent or withhold his assent to a bill or he can return a bill, other than
    a money bill which is recommended by the president himself to the houses. If the President is of
    the opinion that a particular bill violates the constitution, he can send it back with his
    recommendations to pass the bill under the constituent powers of parliament following the Article
    368 procedure. If the bill is then duly passed by the Parliament as per Article 368, he cannot
    withhold his assent.

    How many amendments are there in India?

    As of March 2019, there have been 103 amendments to the Constitution.

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