The Legislative Council: creation, composition and position

Detail

1. What a Legislative Council is

• Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad): the upper House of a state legislature. A state with one House 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 a Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha).
• The Council is optional. Each state decides for itself whether it wants one, through Art. 169.
• Councils are older than the Constitution. West Bengal's Council was set up in 1937 under the Government of India Act, 1935 [2].

2. Creation and abolition (Art. 169)

Procedure, step by step:

Step	Who acts	Majority or condition needed
1	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	President gives assent	Usual assent to a bill

• Art. 169(2): this law can change the Constitution where needed, e.g. by adding or removing the state's name in Art. 168, and can include connected and consequential provisions.
• Art. 169(3): such a law is not treated as an amendment of the Constitution under Art. 368. So the special majority and ratification process of Art. 368 do not apply.
• The Assembly starts the process, but Parliament decides. A resolution alone creates or abolishes nothing. Parliament can delay the bill or never pass it at all, as the Rajasthan and Assam bills show.
• 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 [4].

3. States with Councils (2026)

• Six states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh [2].
• The J&K Council ended in 2019, when the state became a Union Territory under the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 [5]. Some lists still count it as a seventh [5].
• Madhya Pradesh: Art. 168 provided for a Council, but it was never constituted. A proposal for an MP Council is still listed as pending [5].

4. History of creation and abolition

State	Event
West Bengal	Council since 1937. 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 [2]. In May 2021 the Trinamool Congress government approved reviving it [2]
Punjab	Abolished: the abolition law was passed in 1969 [2] (NCERT: 1970)
Tamil Nadu	Abolished by the AIADMK government with effect from 1 November 1986 [2]. The DMK has tried to restore it several times. A 2010 revival law was later repealed (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 (Congress government) → Assembly resolved to abolish it again in 2020 (YSRCP government) [2] → resolution withdrawn in 2021
Jammu & Kashmir	Ended in 2019 with the reorganisation [5]

Pending proposals (verify current):

• 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 and sent to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice. The Committee reported on 9 December 2013. The bill is still pending [3].
• Assam: Assembly resolution of 2010 [2][5]. The bill itself cites a resolution of 14 July 2013 [4]. 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 [4].
• Odisha (2018) and West Bengal (2021) have also passed revival or creation resolutions [2]. No law has followed yet.

5. Composition (Art. 171)

• Size: at most one-third of the Assembly's total strength and at least 40 members (Art. 171(1)).
• Parliament can change the composition by law (Art. 171(2)). Until it does, the scheme in Art. 171(3) applies:

Share	Chosen by	Clause
1/3	Local bodies: municipalities, district boards and other local authorities	Art. 171(3)(a)
1/12	Graduates of at least 3 years' standing living in the state	Art. 171(3)(b)
1/12	Teachers with at least 3 years' service in schools of secondary level or higher	Art. 171(3)(c)
1/3	MLAs, electing persons who are not MLAs	Art. 171(3)(d)
1/6	Nominated by the Governor	Art. 171(3)(e), 171(5)

• Example: the 42 seats in the Assam Bill split as 14 (local bodies) + 4 (graduates) + 4 (teachers) + 14 (MLAs) + 6 (nominated) [4].
• Nominated members must have special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art, the cooperative movement or social service (Art. 171(5)).
• Voting method: the elected members are chosen by proportional representation by single transferable vote. In this system, voters rank candidates in order of choice, so seats are shared roughly in proportion to votes (Art. 171(4)).
• Mixed character: about 5/6 of members are indirectly elected and 1/6 are nominated. No member is directly elected by the general public.
• Minimum age: 30 years (Art. 173). For the Assembly it is 25.
• Permanent House (Art. 172(2)): the Council is never dissolved. Members serve six years, and one-third retire every second year.
• Presiding officer: the Chairman, elected by the Council from its members (Art. 182). There is also a Deputy Chairman.

6. Graduates' and teachers' constituencies

• Graduates' and teachers' constituencies: special electorates in which only the stated group votes. Each elects 1/12 of the Council.
• Graduates' constituency: voters are graduates who live in the state and have held their degree for at least 3 years.

• Teachers' constituency: voters are teachers with at least 3 years' service at secondary level or above.

• Purpose: to bring educated and professional voices into the law-making body.

• Criticism: few eligible voters enrol, and party politics now dominates these seats.

7. Position and powers (Arts. 196-198)

Ordinary bills (Arts. 196-197):

• A bill (other than a money bill) can start in either House (Art. 196(1)).
• A bill that starts in the Assembly and goes to the Council:
• First round: the Council can pass it, reject it, amend it, or sit on it. If it rejects the bill, makes changes the Assembly does not accept, or does nothing for three months, the Assembly may pass the bill again.
• Second round: the Council gets one month. If it again rejects, amends or delays, the bill is deemed passed in the form the Assembly passed it the second time.

• Result: the Council can only delay, for four months in all. It can never block the bill.

• A bill that starts in the Council and is rejected by the Assembly dies. There is no second chance.

• There is no joint sitting. A joint sitting is a meeting of both Houses together to settle a deadlock; Parliament has one under Art. 108, but states do not.

Money bills (Art. 198):

• Money bill: a bill only about taxes, borrowing, or spending from the state's Consolidated Fund (Art. 199). The Speaker of the Assembly certifies whether a bill is a money bill.
• It can be introduced only in the Assembly.
• The Council must return it within 14 days. It can only recommend changes, which the Assembly may accept or reject.
• If the Council does not return it in 14 days, the bill is deemed passed by both Houses.

What the Council cannot do:

• No vote on demands for grants. It can discuss the budget but cannot vote on spending.
• No power to remove the ministry. Under Art. 164(2) the Council of Ministers is collectively responsible only to the Assembly, so a no-confidence motion can be moved only there.
• No role in electing the President (Art. 54) or Rajya Sabha members (Art. 80). Only elected MLAs vote in these elections [5].
• No real say on constitutional amendments. Ratification under Art. 368(2) is by "the Legislatures of the States". In practice, ratification works as in a unicameral state.

Powers the Council does have:

• Ministers may come from the Council. A non-member Chief Minister can become an MLC within six months (Art. 164(4)).
• It can ask questions, move motions and debate policy.
• It shares in matters such as the Governor's ordinances (Art. 213) and the reports of the CAG, State Public Service Commission and State Finance Commission.

8. Legislative Council vs Rajya Sabha

Feature	Rajya Sabha	Legislative Council
Basis	Represents the states (federal chamber)	No federal role; represents local bodies, graduates, teachers and experts
Existence	Fixed by the Constitution	Optional; created or abolished by ordinary law (Art. 169)
Ordinary bill deadlock	Joint sitting (Art. 108), where it can still win	Only delays (3 + 1 months); the Assembly prevails
Bill starting in the upper House and rejected by the lower House	Can go to a joint sitting	Dies
Money bill	14 days, recommends only	14 days, recommends only (same)
Special powers	Art. 249 (state-list subjects), Art. 312 (new All-India Services)	None
Election of President / VP	Votes for VP; elected members vote for President	No role
Amending state laws	Its amendments can survive at a joint sitting	Its amendments can be overridden by the Assembly [5]

9. The debate

• For the Council:
• Revising chamber: a second House checks hasty laws passed by the Assembly.
• It brings in experts (nominated members) and the educated middle class (graduates' and teachers' seats).
• It gives local bodies a voice.

• Some ministers can be found without contesting a direct election.

• Against the Council:

• High cost.
• It becomes a shelter for defeated politicians and a source of patronage. In the Constituent Assembly, Prof. K.T. Shah warned of "considerable outlay" and called it a way for "party bosses to distribute patronage" and to "obstruct or delay necessary legislation" [2][5].

• It has no real power, so it can only delay.

• Instability: Councils are created and abolished as the ruling party finds convenient:

• West Bengal 1969: conflict between the two Houses [2].
• Andhra Pradesh 1985 and 2020 [2].

• Tamil Nadu 1986 [2].

• Reform: the parliamentary Standing Committee examining 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" [5].

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 169: a Council is created or abolished by an ordinary law of Parliament, after an Assembly resolution passed by special majority. Such a law is not an Art. 368 amendment.
• Art. 171: Council size is at most 1/3 of the Assembly and at least 40. Shares: 1/3 local bodies, 1/3 MLAs, 1/12 graduates, 1/12 teachers, 1/6 nominated by the Governor.
• Trap: MLAs elect non-MLAs to the Council. Teachers must teach at secondary level or above, not primary.
• Art. 173: the minimum age for an MLC is 30 (25 for an MLA).
• Art. 172(2): the Council is a permanent House. One-third of members retire every 2 years, and each term is 6 years.
• Art. 197: the Council can delay an Assembly bill by at most 3 + 1 = 4 months. A Council-origin bill rejected by the Assembly dies. There is no joint sitting.
• Art. 198: 14 days on a money bill, with recommendations only. This is the same as the Rajya Sabha.
• States with Councils (2026): AP, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, UP. Council abolitions: WB 1969, Punjab 1969-70, TN 1986, AP 1985 (revived 2007), J&K 2019.
• Pending bills: the Rajasthan (66 seats) and Assam (42 seats) Legislative Council Bills, 2013, are still in the Rajya Sabha [3][4].
• MLCs do not vote in the Presidential or Rajya Sabha elections [5].

Mains Points

• Weak second chamber by design:
• The Council can only delay ordinary bills and has no say over money or the ministry.
• Its legitimacy is not federal, unlike the Rajya Sabha's.

• So its value depends on the quality of revision and expertise it adds, not on its power. Use this in "Is bicameralism needed in states?" answers.

• Created and abolished at a party's convenience:

• The ruling party's majority decides whether a Council exists: WB 1969, AP 1985/2020, TN 1986 [2].

• Fix: a national policy with uniform criteria, as the 2013 Standing Committee asked [5].

• The parliamentary bottleneck: Art. 169 lets Parliament sit on state resolutions for years (Rajasthan and Assam bills pending since 2013 [3][4]). This reflects central control over state institutions, a federalism point for GS-II.

• Reform ideas:
• Make nominations transparent.
• Revisit graduates' and teachers' constituencies in an age of mass higher education.
• Weigh costs against output, e.g. bills actually revised by Councils.
• Rethink whether defeated candidates can enter the legislature through the Council (the "backdoor entry" concern).