ShivaniSikri at 05:22, 20 October 2025

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{{Short description|Former reserved seats in the Lok Sabha}}
Between 1952 and 2020, two seats were reserved in the [[Lok Sabha]], the lower house of the [[Parliament of India]], for members of the [[Anglo-Indian]] community. These two members were nominated by the [[President of India]] on the advice of the [[Government of India]]. In January 2020, the Anglo-Indian reserved seats in the Lok Sabha and [[State legislative assemblies of India|state legislative assemblies]] of India were discontinued by the 126th Constitutional Amendment Bill of 2019, when enacted as the [[One Hundred and Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of India#:~:text=The One Hundred and Fourth,Lok Sabha and State Legislative|104th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Anglo Indian Representation To Lok Sabha, State Assemblies Done Away; SC-ST Reservation Extended For 10 Years: Constitution (104th Amendment) Act To Come Into Force On 25th Jan|url=http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2020/215637.pdf|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=25 January 2020|website=egazette.nic.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.elections.in/government/anglo-indian-mps.html|title=Anglo Indian Members of Parliament (MPs) of India – Powers, Salary, Eligibility, Term|website=www.elections.in}}</ref>

The Article 331 of the Indian Constitution gave reservation to the Anglo-Indian community during the creation of the Constitution, the article 331 also says that this reservation would cease to exist 10 years after the commencement of the Constitution. But this reservation was extended to 1970 through the 8th Amendment. The period of reservation was extended to 1980 through 23rd amendment and then to 1990 through 45th amendments, to 2006 through 62nd amendment, to 2010 through 79th amendments and to 2020 through the 95th Amendment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indialegallive.com/top-news-of-the-day/news/centre-notifies-constitutional-amendment-away-quota-anglo-india-84961|title=Centre notifies constitutional amendment doing away with quota for Anglo Indian|access-date=3 June 2020}}</ref> In January 2020, the Anglo-Indian reserved seats in the Parliament and State Legislatures of India were abolished by the 104th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/constitution-104th-amendment-act-to-come-into-force-151919|title=Anglo Indian Representation To Lok Sabha, State Assemblies Done Away; SC-ST Reservation Extended For 10 Years: Constitution (104th Amendment) Act To Come Into Force On 25th Jan|website=www.livelaw.in|date=23 January 2020|access-date=2 June 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.elections.in/government/anglo-indian-mps.html|title=Anglo Indian Members of Parliament (MPs) of India – Powers, Salary, Eligibility, Term|website=www.elections.in}}</ref> The reason cited by the [[Minister of Law and Justice|Union Law Minister]] [[Ravi Shankar Prasad]] who introduced the Bill in the Lok Sabha is that the Anglo-Indians population in India was just 296 in the [[2011 Census of India]], though this figure is disputed.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/who-are-the-anglo-indians-and-why-do-they-have-a-quota-in-lok-sabha-and-some-state-legislatures/527529|title=Who are the Anglo-Indians and why do they have a quota in Lok Sabha and some state legislatures?|author=Sumeet Kaul|access-date =2 June 2020}}</ref> The total number of Anglo-Indians is disputed with estimates up to 150,000. Some sources suggest a population between 75,000 and 100,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2019/12/13/kerala-anglo-indian-community-ernakulam-kollam-kannur.html|access-date=14 September 2023|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021014456/https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2019/12/13/kerala-anglo-indian-community-ernakulam-kollam-kannur.html|title=In Kerala Anglo-Indians are 100,000 strong, not minuscule 124!|date=13 December 2019|website=Onmanorama|archive-date=21 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/212353/anglo-indians-yearn-magical-past | title=Anglo-Indians yearn for the magical past | date=17 December 2011 }}</ref>

== History ==
{{Main|Reserved political positions in India}}
The Anglo-Indian community were the only community in India that had its own representatives nominated to the [[Lok Sabha]] ([[lower house]]) in the [[Parliament of India]]. This right was secured from [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] by [[Frank Anthony]], the first and long-time president of the All India Anglo-Indian Association. The community was represented by two members. This was done because the community had no native state of its own. Fourteen [[States and union territories of India|states]] of India ([[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Bihar]], [[Chhattisgarh]], [[Gujarat]], [[Jharkhand]], [[Karnataka]], [[Kerala]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Telangana]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Uttarakhand]] and [[West Bengal]]) also had a nominated member each in their respective [[State Legislative Assembly (India)|State Legislative Assemblies]].

The reserved seats were expected to have been phased out by the 1960s, but continued to be renewed by successive governments, until this provision was abolished in 2020.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/16/the-two-mps-of-british-descent-who-do-not-have-to-stand-in-indian-election|title=The two MPs of British descent who do not have to stand in Indian election|first=Michael|last=Safi|newspaper=The Guardian |date=April 16, 2019|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref> Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad cited the 2011 Census as counting merely 296 Anglo-Indians in India, prompting challenges from many opposition MPs. [[Kanimozhi]] of the [[Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam|DMK]] party pointed out that the state [[Tamil Nadu]] alone had a few thousand Anglo-Indians.<ref name=":0" />

=== Before independence ===
[[Henry Gidney]] was a nominated member of the [[Central Legislative Assembly]] under the 'Special Interests/Anglo-Indian' category in the [[1920 Indian general election|1920]], [[1923 Indian general election|1923]], [[1926 Indian general election|1926]], [[1930 Indian general election|1930]], and [[1934 Indian general election|1934]] elections.

== List of Anglo-Indian members in the Lok Sabha ==
The following is a list of members nominated for the seats after each election.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aiadanapur.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=81|title=Anglo Indian MP's In India|website=www.aiadanapur.org}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable sortable"
! scope=col rowspan=2|Election
! scope=colgroup colspan=3|Member 1
! scope=colgroup colspan=3|Member 2
|-
! scope=col | Name
! scope=col colspan=2|Party
! scope=col | Name
! scope=col colspan=2|Party
|-
! scope=row | [[1951–52 Indian general election|1951–52]]
|rowspan=5|[[Frank Anthony]]
|{{Full party name with color|Independent (politician)|rowspan=5}}
|rowspan=4|[[A. E. T. Barrow]]
|{{Full party name with color|Independent (politician)|rowspan=6}}
|-
! scope=row | [[1957 Indian general election|1957]]
|-
! scope=row | [[1962 Indian general election|1962]]
|-
! scope=row | [[1967 Indian general election|1967]]
|-
! scope=row | [[1971 Indian general election|1971]]
|[[Marjorie Godfrey]]
|-
! scope=row | [[1977 Indian general election|1977]]
|[[Rudolph Rodrigues]]
|{{Full party name with color|Janata Party}}
|rowspan=3|[[A. E. T. Barrow]]
|-
! scope=row | [[1980 Indian general election|1980]]
|rowspan=2|[[Frank Anthony]]
|{{Full party name with color|Indian National Congress|rowspan=2}}
|{{Full party name with color|Indian National Congress|rowspan=2}}
|-
! scope=row | [[1984 Indian general election|1984]]
|-
! scope=row | [[1989 Indian general election|1989]]
|[[Joss Fernandez]]
|{{Full party name with color|Janata Dal}}
|[[Paul Mantosh]]
|{{Full party name with color|Janata Dal}}
|-
! scope=row | [[1991 Indian general election|1991]]
|[[Frank Anthony]]
|{{Full party name with color|Indian National Congress}}
|rowspan=3|[[Robert E. Williams (politician)|Robert E. Williams]]
|{{Full party name with color|Indian National Congress|rowspan=4}}
|-
! scope=row | ''1993''
| colspan=3 align=center| Vacant
|-
! scope=row | ''1995''
|[[Sheila F. Irani]]
|{{Full party name with color|Indian National Congress|rowspan=2}}
|-
! scope=row | [[1996 Indian general election|1996]]
|[[Neil O'Brien (quizmaster)|Neil O'Brien]]
|[[Hedwig Rego]]
|-
! scope=row | [[1998 Indian general election|1998]]
|rowspan=2|[[Beatrix D'Souza]]
|{{Full party name with color|Samata Party|rowspan=2}}
|[[Neville Foley]]
|{{Full party name with color|Samata Party}}
|-
! scope=row | [[1999 Indian general election|1999]]
|[[Denzil B. Atkinson]]
|{{Full party name with color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}
|-
! scope=row | [[2004 Indian general election|2004]]
|rowspan=2|[[Ingrid McLeod]]
|{{Full party name with color|Indian National Congress|rowspan=2}}
|[[Francis Fanthome]]
|{{Full party name with color|Indian National Congress|rowspan=2}}
|-
! scope=row | [[2009 Indian general election|2009]]
|[[Charles Dias]]
|-
! scope=row | [[2014 Indian general election|2014]]
|[[George Baker (Indian actor)|George Baker]]
|{{Full party name with color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}
|[[Richard Hay (politician)|Richard Hay]]
|{{Full party name with color|Bharatiya Janata Party}}
|-
|}

== See also ==
* [[Anglo-Indian reserved seat in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly]]
* [[List of former constituencies of the Lok Sabha]]
* [[Reserved political positions in India]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Parliament of India}}
{{Lok Sabha}}

[[Category:Lok Sabha]]
[[Category:Former constituencies of the Lok Sabha]]
[[Category:Ethnic bodies and representatives elections]]

Anglo-Indian reserved seats in the Lok Sabha - Revision history

ShivaniSikri at 05:22, 20 October 2025