Jatiya Sangsad

The Jatiya Sangsad (House of the Nation) is the supreme legislative organ of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, constituted under Part V, Chapter I (Articles 65–93) of the Constitution of 1972. Article 65(1) vests the legislative power of the Republic in Parliament, subject to the Constitution. It is a unicameral body — Bangladesh, unlike India or Pakistan, has no upper house — and presently comprises 350 members: 300 elected directly from single-territorial constituencies on a first-past-the-post basis under Article 65(2), and 50 women's seats filled by proportional allocation among parties under Article 65(3), a provision extended in tenure by the Constitution (Fifteenth Amendment) Act, 2011. The normal term is five years from the date of the first meeting after a general election (Article 72), and the meeting chamber is the iconic Louis Kahn-designed National Parliament Building at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, inaugurated in 1982.

Parliament is presided over by a Speaker and Deputy Speaker elected under Article 74. Quorum is sixty members under Article 75(2). The legislative process culminates in the President's assent under Article 80; the President may return a non-money bill once, but it becomes law if re-passed. A distinctive — and exam-critical — feature is the anti-defection rule under Article 70, which provides that a member elected on a party ticket vacates the seat if they resign from or vote against that party in the House, making floor-crossing impossible and heavily concentrating power in the party leadership. The President summons, prorogues and dissolves Parliament under Article 72, and following the Thirteenth Amendment's judicial invalidation (2011) and the Fifteenth Amendment's abolition of the non-party caretaker government system, elections are conducted under the sitting government's tenure.

Historically, the first Jatiya Sangsad convened in 1973 following the constituent legislature that adopted the 1972 Constitution. The institution was suspended during periods of martial law (notably 1975–1979 and 1982–1986) and its character was altered by successive amendments — the Fourth Amendment (1975) introducing BAKSAL one-party rule, and the Twelfth Amendment (1991) restoring the parliamentary system after Ershad's fall. The Twelfth Sangsad, elected in January 2024, was dissolved on 6 August 2024 following the resignation and departure of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina amid mass protests, after which an interim government under Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus assumed office; as of 2026, constitutional reform and the timing of fresh parliamentary elections remain live national questions.

For the BCS examination, the Jatiya Sangsad is core material in Bangladesh Affairs and the constitutional-law segment. Candidates must reliably reproduce the article numbers (65, 70, 72, 74, 80), the 300+50 seat composition, the five-year term, quorum of sixty, and the Westminster parliamentary framework. Typical question angles include the rationale and effect of Article 70 on parliamentary democracy, the unicameral nature of the legislature, the impact of the Fifteenth Amendment, and the sequence of amendments shaping legislative power. Comparative questions contrasting it with India's bicameral Sansad also appear.