State legislatures: assemblies and councils

Detail

1. Parallel structure: the state mirrors the Union

• Parallel structure: each state copies the Union's parliamentary system on a smaller scale.

Union level	State level
President (formal head)	Governor (formal head)
Prime Minister (real head)	Chief Minister (real head)
Union Council of Ministers, responsible to the Lok Sabha	State Council of Ministers, responsible to the Vidhan Sabha
Parliament = President + Lok Sabha + Rajya Sabha	State legislature = Governor + one or two Houses (Art. 168)

• What MLAs make laws on: MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) make laws on subjects in the State List and the Concurrent List (the shared list in the Seventh Schedule).
• Clash on a Concurrent List subject (Art. 254):
• If a state law and a Union law on the same Concurrent subject conflict, the Union law prevails. The state law is void to the extent that it conflicts.

• Example: education is on the Concurrent List, so the Union's RTE Act (Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009) applies across India.

• Money bill (a bill only about taxes, borrowing or spending from state funds): it can be introduced only in the Legislative Assembly, never in the Council.

• Vidhana Soudha, Bengaluru: the Karnataka legislature building, built while Kengal Hanumanthaiah was Chief Minister. The Class 8 NCERT uses it as an example of a state legislature's seat.
• unicameral vs bicameral: a state with one House (assembly only) is unicameral. A state with two Houses (assembly + council) is bicameral. Most states are unicameral.

2. Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha): the lower House

• Legislative Assembly: the directly elected House of a state. Voters in each constituency elect one MLA, on the basis of adult franchise.
• Size (Art. 170): at least 60 and at most 500 members.

• Some small states are allowed fewer than 60. Examples: Sikkim (32, under Art. 371F), Goa (40) and Mizoram (40).

• Term (Art. 172(1)): five years from the first meeting, unless it is dissolved earlier.

• During a National Emergency, Parliament can extend the term by one year at a time. The extension can last only up to six months after the Emergency ends.

• Responsibility: the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the assembly. This means the whole ministry stays in office only while it has the assembly's majority support. A no-confidence vote in the assembly brings the government down.

• Reservation:
• Art. 332: seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, roughly in proportion to their share of the state's population.
• Art. 332A (inserted by the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, the "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam"): one-third of assembly seats are reserved for women. One-third of the SC/ST reserved seats also go to women of those groups [4].
• When it starts: under the 2023 text, women's reservation starts only after a delimitation (redrawing of constituency boundaries) based on the first census held after the 2023 Act. It then lasts 15 years (Art. 334A) [4].

• 2026 update: the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 16 April 2026. It would remove the link to "the first census after 2023". Women's reservation could then follow a delimitation based on the 2011 census. The bill would also let Parliament decide by simple majority when delimitation happens and which census it uses [5].

• Anglo-Indian nomination (Art. 333): the Governor could nominate one Anglo-Indian member to the assembly. The 104th Amendment Act, 2019 did not extend this provision, so it ended in January 2020. SC/ST reservation was extended to 2030.

3. Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad): the upper House

• Legislative Council: the indirectly elected, partly nominated upper House of a bicameral state. It is a smaller, state-level version of the Rajya Sabha.
• Six bicameral states (as of 2021): Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh [3].
• Permanent House: it is never dissolved.
• Each member serves six years.
• One-third of members retire every two years, as in the Rajya Sabha.

Creating or abolishing a council (Art. 169)

Step	Who acts	Majority or condition needed
1	Legislative Assembly passes a resolution	Majority of total membership of the assembly and two-thirds of members present and voting (a special majority)
2	Parliament passes a law	Simple majority in both Houses (an ordinary law)
3	President gives assent	The council is created or abolished

• The Parliament law may change the Constitution where needed (for example, the list of bicameral states in Art. 168). But it is not treated as an amendment under Art. 368 [2].
• Why this route exists: the Constituent Assembly added this provision (draft Art. 148A, adopted on 30 July 1949). It let states change their second chamber without meeting the hard conditions for a formal constitutional amendment [2].
• Parliament is not bound to act on the assembly's resolution. Some resolutions have stayed pending for years.

Size and composition (Art. 171)

• Size: at most one-third of the assembly's total strength, and at least 40 members [6].
• How members are chosen:

Share	Chosen by
1/3	Members of local authorities (municipalities, district boards and similar bodies)
1/12	Graduates living in the state who graduated at least 3 years earlier
1/12	Teachers with at least 3 years' service in institutions of secondary-school level or higher
1/3	MLAs, who must elect people who are not members of the assembly
Rest (about 1/6)	Nominated by the Governor: people with special knowledge of literature, science, art, the co-operative movement and social service

• Voting method: the elected members are chosen by proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote [6]. In this system, voters rank candidates in order of preference, and surplus votes pass to the next choice.
• Constituent Assembly debate: Art. 171 was debated on 2 June, 30 July and 19 August 1949 [6].

History: councils created, abolished and revived

• West Bengal: the council was set up in 1937 under the Government of India Act, 1935. It was abolished in 1969. The assembly passed its resolution in March 1969, and Parliament approved it about four months later [3].
• Punjab: council abolished in 1969 [3].
• Andhra Pradesh: created in 1958, abolished in 1985 and revived in 2007 [3].

• In January 2020, the assembly passed a resolution to abolish it again. The resolution was withdrawn in 2021, so the council continues.

• Tamil Nadu: abolished in 1986. Parliament passed the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Act, 2010, but the council was never constituted [3].

• Jammu and Kashmir: its council was abolished in 2019 under the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, when the state became a Union territory.
• Pending proposals:
• Assam: assembly resolution in 2010; the Assam Legislative Council Bill, 2013 is pending in the Rajya Sabha [3].
• Rajasthan: assembly resolution in 2012; the Rajasthan Legislative Council Bill, 2013 is pending in the Rajya Sabha [3].
• Odisha and West Bengal have also passed resolutions seeking a council.

4. A weaker second chamber

The Council is much weaker than the Rajya Sabha. Its role is mainly to delay and advise, not to block. Article 197 was meant to stop hasty laws, not to give the council equal power [7].

Ordinary bill passed by the assembly (Art. 197)

1. The assembly passes a bill and sends it to the council.
2. The council rejects it, does not pass it within 3 months, or passes it with amendments the assembly does not accept.
3. The assembly passes the bill again and sends it back.
4. The council again rejects it or holds it for more than 1 month, or makes changes the assembly does not accept.
5. The bill is deemed passed by both Houses in the form the assembly wants.

• Maximum delay: 3 + 1 = 4 months.
• No joint sitting: at the Union level, a joint sitting can settle a deadlock between the two Houses (Art. 108). States have no joint sitting, so the assembly always prevails.
• Bill that starts in the council: if the assembly rejects it, the bill dies. The council has no way to override the assembly.

Money bill (Art. 198)

• The bill can be introduced only in the assembly. The Speaker decides whether a bill is a money bill (Art. 199).
• The council must return it within 14 days, with or without recommendations.
• The assembly may accept or reject those recommendations. If the council does not return it within 14 days, the bill is deemed passed.

Council vs Rajya Sabha

Point	Legislative Council	Rajya Sabha
Existence	Optional; created or abolished by Parliament (Art. 169)	Compulsory; part of the Constitution's basic design
Ordinary bill	Can delay 4 months at most	Equal power; deadlock goes to a joint sitting (Art. 108)
Money bill	14 days	14 days
Ministry responsible to it?	No	No
Special powers	None	Art. 249 (Parliament can legislate on a State List subject), Art. 312 (new All-India Services)
Role in electing the President	None	Elected members vote

5. Debate: is a council useful?

• Against: critics call it a costly "parking lot" for politicians who lost elections. It mainly delays bills. Ruling parties have created or abolished councils for political convenience, as in Andhra Pradesh (1985, 2007, 2020 to 2021) [3].
• For: supporters say the graduates' and teachers' seats and the Governor's nominees bring expertise. A second look at bills checks hasty laws [7].
• Uneven use: only six states have councils. Parliament has kept the Assam and Rajasthan bills pending for more than a decade [3]. As a result, a state's choice depends on the Centre.
• (For the Governor, the Chief Minister, the state law-making process and Union territories, see the state-government-governor note.)

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 169: a council is created or abolished by an ordinary law of Parliament after the assembly passes a special-majority resolution. This law is not an Art. 368 amendment [2].
• Art. 171: council size is no more than 1/3 of the assembly and at least 40. Shares: 1/3 local bodies, 1/12 graduates, 1/12 teachers, 1/3 MLAs, the rest nominated by the Governor [6].
• Trap: MLAs elect council members from among non-members of the assembly [6].
• Art. 197: the council can delay an ordinary bill for at most 4 months (3 + 1). There is no joint sitting in states.
• Art. 198: the council must return a money bill within 14 days, the same as the Rajya Sabha.
• Art. 170: an assembly has 60 to 500 members. Exceptions: Sikkim 32, Goa 40, Mizoram 40.
• Art. 332A / 106th Amendment Act, 2023: one-third of assembly seats reserved for women, for 15 years once in force [4].
• Art. 333 (Anglo-Indian nomination) ended in 2020 under the 104th Amendment Act, 2019.
• Six councils: AP, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, UP [3]. Tamil Nadu: a 2010 Act was passed, but no council was formed [3].
• Art. 254: on a Concurrent List subject, a Union law prevails over a conflicting state law (example: the RTE Act).

Mains Points

• Second chamber or a "parking lot"? Weigh the expertise of the graduates', teachers' and nominated seats and the check on hasty laws [7] against the cost, the short 4-month delay power and partisan use. The Andhra Pradesh case (abolished 1985, revived 2007, abolition resolution withdrawn 2021) shows partisan use [3].
• Federal angle of Art. 169: a state's wish for a council depends on Parliament acting on it. The Assam (2010) and Rajasthan (2012) resolutions have been pending for years [3]. Reform idea: a time limit for Parliament to act, or a uniform national policy on councils.
• Women in state assemblies: Art. 332A (2023) depends on a census and delimitation, which delays its start [4]. The 131st Amendment Bill, 2026 would allow a delimitation based on the 2011 census. This raises questions about using old data and about Parliament fixing delimitation by simple majority [5].
• Balance between the two Houses: the council has no say over the ministry and only a limited delay power. This keeps the elected assembly supreme, so state-level bicameralism is advisory and not a full check on the assembly.