Creation and abolition of Legislative Councils

Also called: Article 169 · Topic: State Government: Governor, Chief Minister, State Legislature and Union Territories · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Creation and abolition of Legislative Councils (Article 169) is the way a state gets or loses its upper House. Parliament can create or abolish a state's Legislative Council by an ordinary law. It can do so only after that state's Legislative Assembly asks for it in a resolution passed by special majority. This law is not counted as an amendment of the Constitution under Article 368.

It matters because each state can choose whether to have a second House. That choice has often followed party politics. Councils have been created, abolished and revived many times, and some state requests have waited in Parliament for years.

Explanation

What is being created or abolished

• Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad): the upper House of a state legislature.
• A state with one House (only the Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha) is unicameral.

• A state with two Houses (Assembly + Council) is bicameral.

• Art. 168 lists the states that have a Council. Every other state has only an Assembly.

• The Council is optional. Each state decides whether it wants one, and Art. 169 is how it acts on that choice.

The procedure, step by step

Step	Who acts	Majority or condition needed
1	The State Legislative Assembly passes a resolution	Special majority: a majority of the total membership of the Assembly and at least two-thirds of members present and voting
2	Parliament passes a law to create or abolish the Council	Simple (ordinary) majority in both Houses
3	The President gives assent	The usual assent to a bill

• Special majority: a larger-than-usual majority. Here the resolution must pass two tests at once: a majority of all members (including those absent), and two-thirds of those who actually vote.
• Simple majority: more than half of the members present and voting. This is how ordinary laws pass.

What the law can do, and what it is not

• Art. 169(2): the law can change the Constitution where needed. For example, it can add or remove the state's name in Art. 168. It can also include connected and consequential provisions (changes that follow from the main change).
• Art. 169(3): the law is not treated as an amendment of the Constitution under Art. 368.
• So Art. 368's special majority in Parliament does not apply.

• Ratification (approval) by half the states is not needed either.

• Bills of this kind usually also make consequential amendments to the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951 (the laws that run elections), to fix seats and constituencies [3].

Conditions and limits

• The Assembly starts the process, but Parliament decides.
• A resolution on its own creates or abolishes nothing.

• Parliament is not bound to act. It can delay the bill or never pass it.

• The state must ask first. Parliament cannot create or abolish a Council unless the Assembly has passed the resolution.

• Composition of a new Council (Art. 171): at most one-third of the Assembly's total strength, and at least 40 members.

In the Constitution and practice

• Where it sits: Part VI of the Constitution (the States). Art. 168 names the states with Councils. Art. 169 gives the method to create or abolish one. Art. 171 fixes how a Council is made up.
• Councils are older than the Constitution. West Bengal's Council was set up in 1937 under the Government of India Act, 1935 [1].
• States with Councils (2026): Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh [1].
• The J&K Council ended in 2019, when the state became a Union Territory under the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 [4].
• Madhya Pradesh: Art. 168 provided for a Council, but it was never constituted (never actually set up). A proposal for an MP Council is still listed as pending [4].

Key instances of creation and abolition:

State	What happened
West Bengal	Abolished 1969. The Congress-majority Council backed the Governor's dismissal of the ministry, but the Assembly opposed it. Parliament passed the abolition law about four months after the Assembly's March 1969 resolution [1]. In May 2021 the Trinamool Congress government approved reviving it [1].
Punjab	Abolished. The law was passed in 1969 [1] (NCERT gives 1970).
Tamil Nadu	Abolished by the AIADMK government with effect from 1 November 1986 [1]. A 2010 revival law was later repealed by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council (Repeal) Bill, 2012.
Andhra Pradesh	Created 1958 → abolished 1985 (TDP government) → revived 2007 under the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council Act, 2005 → Assembly resolved to abolish it again in 2020 (YSRCP government) [1] → resolution withdrawn in 2021.

Pending in Parliament (verify current status):

• Rajasthan: Assembly resolution of 18 April 2012 for a 66-member Council. The Rajasthan Legislative Council Bill, 2013 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 6 August 2013. The Standing Committee on Law and Justice reported on 9 December 2013. The bill is still pending [2].
• Assam: the Assembly resolution dates from 2010 [1][4]. The bill itself cites a resolution of 14 July 2013 [3]. The Assam Legislative Council Bill, 2013 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in December 2013 for a 42-seat Council. The Standing Committee reported on 17 February 2014. The bill is still pending [3].
• Odisha (2018) and West Bengal (2021) have passed resolutions too, but no law has followed [1].

Don't confuse with

• Constitutional amendment under Art. 368: this needs a special majority in each House of Parliament, and sometimes ratification by half the states. An Art. 169 law needs only a simple majority in Parliament and is expressly not an Art. 368 amendment, even though it changes Art. 168.
• Creating new states under Art. 3: here Parliament starts the process. The bill needs the President's recommendation, and the state's views are not binding. Under Art. 169 the state Assembly must start it with a special-majority resolution.
• Rajya Sabha: it exists because the Constitution fixes it, and no ordinary law can abolish it. A Legislative Council is optional and can be created or abolished by ordinary law.
• The two different majorities in Art. 169: the special majority is needed in the state Assembly (for the resolution). Only a simple majority is needed in Parliament (for the law). Exam options often swap them.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 169: a Council is created or abolished by an ordinary law of Parliament, after an Assembly resolution passed by a majority of total membership and two-thirds of members present and voting.
• Art. 169(3): such a law is not an amendment under Art. 368, even though it changes the list of states in Art. 168.
• Trap: the Assembly's resolution does not bind Parliament. The Rajasthan (66 seats) and Assam (42 seats) Legislative Council Bills, 2013, are still pending in the Rajya Sabha [2][3].
• Art. 171(1): Council size is at most 1/3 of the Assembly and at least 40 members.
• States with Councils (2026): AP, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, UP [1]. Abolitions: WB 1969, Punjab 1969-70, AP 1985 (revived 2007), TN 1986, J&K 2019.
• Oldest: West Bengal's Council dates from 1937, under the Government of India Act, 1935 [1].

Mains Points

• Councils are created and abolished at a party's convenience:
• Because a simple Assembly majority (with two-thirds of those voting) can start the process, the ruling party largely decides whether a Council exists. Examples: WB 1969, AP 1985 and 2020, TN 1986 [1].
• This makes the Council unstable as an institution. A House meant to revise laws loses its value if it can be removed whenever it disagrees.

• Reform: the Standing Committee on the Rajasthan Bill (2013) asked for a national policy on Councils, so that a Council is not "abolished once created, only at the whims and fancy of a newly elected Government" [4].

• Parliament as a bottleneck (a federalism point):

• Art. 169 gives the state the first move, but Parliament the final say, with no time limit.
• The Rajasthan and Assam bills have been pending since 2013 [2][3]. This shows central control over a purely state institution.

• Reform idea: set a time limit for Parliament to decide on a state's resolution, or set uniform criteria for deciding it.

• Is a second House worth it?

• For: it is a revising chamber that checks hasty laws. It brings in experts, graduates, teachers and local bodies.
• Against: high cost. It can become a "shelter" for defeated politicians. In the Constituent Assembly, Prof. K.T. Shah warned of "considerable outlay" and called it a way for "party bosses to distribute patronage" [1][4].
• Balance: the decision under Art. 169 should rest on a Council's actual record (for example, how many bills it improves), not on short-term political gain.

Related concepts

• Position of the Legislative Council
• Graduates' and teachers' constituencies

Read more

• The Legislative Council: creation, composition and position