State legislative councils of India

2021-07-16T07:38:47Z

43.224.3.145: /* Current State Legislative Councils */

{{for|the lower house|State legislative assemblies of India}}
{{Politics of India}}
The '''State Legislative Council''', or '''Vidhan Parishad''', or '''Saasana Mandali''' is the [[upper house]] in those [[states and union territories of India|6 states]] of [[India]] that have a [[bicameralism|bicameral]] [[State legislature (India)|state legislature]]; the [[lower house]] being the [[State legislative assemblies of India|State Legislative Assembly]]. Its establishment is defined in Article 169 of the [[Constitution of India]].

As of Jan 2020, 6 out of 28 states have a State Legislative Council. These are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh The latest state to have a council is [[Telangana]].<ref name="Business Standard">{{Cite news|url=https://wap.business-standard.com/about/what-is-legislative-council|title=WHAT IS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL|newspaper=Business Standard|access-date=7 September 2020}}</ref><ref>[http://www.gktoday.in/blog/legislative-council-in-india/ GK Today]</ref>

==Qualification and Tenure==
To become a member of a State Legislative Council (MLC), a person must be a [[Indian nationality law|citizen of India]], at least 30 years old, [[sanity|mentally sound]], not an [[insolvency|insolvent]], and must be enrolled on the voters' list of the state for which he or she is contesting an election. He or she may not be a [[Member of Parliament (India)|Member of Parliament]] and [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|Member of the State Legislative Assembly]] at the same time. The tenure of the MLCs are six years. One-third of the members of State Legislative Council retire after every two years. This arrangement parallels that for the [[Rajya Sabha]], the upper house of the [[Parliament of India]].<ref name="Business Standard"/>

==Composition==
The size of the State Legislative Council cannot be more than one third of the membership of the State Legislative Assembly. However, its size cannot be less than 40 members. These members elect the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the State Legislative Council.

MLCs are chosen in the following manner:<ref name="Business Standard"/>
*One third are elected by the members of local bodies such as [[Municipal governance in India|municipalities]], [[Gram panchayat]]s, [[Panchayat samiti]]s and [[District Councils of India|district councils]].
*One third are elected by the [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|members]] of [[State legislative assemblies of India|Legislative Assembly]] of the State from among the persons who are not members of the State Legislative Assembly.
*One sixth are nominated by the [[Governor (India)|Governor]] from persons having knowledge or practical experience in fields such as [[literature]], [[science]], [[arts]], the [[cooperative|co-operative movement]] and [[social work|social services]].
*One twelfth are elected by persons who are [[graduation|graduates]] of three years' standing residing in that state.
*One twelfth are elected by teachers who had spent at least three years in teaching in [[Education in India|educational institutions within the state]] not lower than [[secondary school]]s, including [[college]]s and [[university|universities]].

==Creation, Abolition & Roles of State Legislative Councils==
According to the Article 169 of the Constitution of India, the Parliament of India can create or abolish the State Legislative Council of a state if that state's legislature passes a resolution for that with a special majority. As of December 2020, 6 out of the 28 states have State Legislative Council.<ref name="Business Standard"/> The existence of a State Legislative Council has proven politically controversial. A number of states that have had their Legislative Council abolished have subsequently requested its re-establishment; conversely, proposals for the re-establishment of the Legislative Council for a state have also met with opposition. Proposals for abolition or re-establishment of a state's Legislative Council require confirmation by the [[Parliament of India]]. The Constitution of India gives limited power to the State Legislative Council. The State Legislative Council can neither form or [[Dissolution of parliament|dissolve]] a [[State governments of India|state government]]. The State Legislative Council also have no role in the passing of [[money bill]]s. But some of the powers it has is that the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the State Legislative Council enjoy the same status of [[Cabinet (government)|Cabinet Ministers]] in the state.<ref name="Business Standard"/>

==Current State Legislative Councils==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! rowspan="2" | Council
! rowspan="2" | Image
! rowspan="2" | Constituencies
! rowspan="2" | Seat(s)
! colspan="3" | House strength
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" | Ruling party
|-
! Elected
! Nom.
! Total
|-
| [[Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council]]
| [[File:Andhra Pradesh Secretariat.jpg|frameless|250px]]
| [[List of constituencies of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council|List]]
|| [[Amaravati]] || 50 || 8 || 58
|style="background-color: {{YSR Congress Party/meta/color}}" |
| [[YSR Congress Party]]
|-
| [[Bihar Legislative Council]]
| [[File:Vidhan-sabha-bihar.jpg|frameless|250px]]
| [[List of constituencies of the Bihar Legislative Council|List]]
|| [[Patna]] || 63 || 12 || 75
|style="background-color: {{Janata Dal (United)/meta/color}}" |
| [[Janata Dal (United)]]
|-
| [[Karnataka Legislative Council]]
| [[File:Vidhana Souda , Bangalore.jpg|frameless|250px]] [[File:Suvarna Vidhana Soudha.jpg|frameless|250px]]
| [[List of constituencies of the Karnataka Legislative Council|List]]
|| [[Bangalore]] {{small|(summer)}} [[Belgaum]] {{small|(winter)}}
|| 64 || 11 || 75
|style="background-color: {{Bharatiya Janata Party/meta/color}}" |
| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
|-
| [[Maharashtra Legislative Council]]
| [[File:Vidhan Bhavan1.jpg|center|frameless|250px]]
| [[List of constituencies of the Maharashtra Legislative Council|List]]
|| [[Mumbai]] {{small|(summer)}} [[Nagpur]] {{small|(winter)}}
|| 66 || 12 || 78
|style="background-color: {{Shiv Sena/meta/color}}" |
| [[Shiv Sena]]
|-
| [[Telangana Legislative Council]]
| [[File:Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.jpg|frameless|250px]]
| [[List of constituencies of the Telangana Legislative Council|List]]
|| [[Hyderabad]] || 34 || 6 ||40
|style="background-color: {{Telangana Rashtra Samithi/meta/color}}" |
| [[Telangana Rashtra Samithi]]
|-
| [[Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council]]
| [[File:Vidhan Sabha Lucknow.jpg|frameless|250px]]
| [[List of constituencies of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council|List]]
|| [[Lucknow]] || 90 || 10 || 100
|style="background-color: {{Bharatiya Janata Party/meta/color}}" |
| [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
|-
| Total
| style="text-align:center" | {{em dash}} || style="text-align:center" | {{em dash}} || style="text-align:center" | {{em dash}} || 367 || 59 || 426
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center" | {{em dash}}
|}

==State Legislative Councils by ruling parties==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan="2" | Ruling party
! States
! colspan="2" | Alliance
|-
|style="background-color: {{Bharatiya Janata Party/meta/color}}" |
|[[Bharatiya Janata Party]]
|2
|style="background-color: {{National Democratic Alliance/meta/color}}" |
|[[National Democratic Alliance]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{Janata Dal (United)/meta/color}}" |
|[[Janata Dal (United)]]
|1
|style="background-color: {{National Democratic Alliance/meta/color}}" |
|[[National Democratic Alliance]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{Shiv Sena/meta/color}}" |
|[[Shiv Sena]]
|1
|style="background-color: {{United Progressive Alliance/meta/color}}" |
|[[United Progressive Alliance]]
|-
|style="background-color: {{Telangana Rashtra Samithi/meta/color}}" |
|[[Telangana Rashtra Samithi]]
|1
|style="background:#FF0001"|
|Others
|-
|style="background-color: {{YSR Congress Party/meta/color}}" |
|[[YSR Congress Party]]
|1
|style="background:#FF0001"|
|Others
|}

==Former State Legislative Councils==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Council
! Seat(s)
! House strength
! Years active
! Abolished by
|-
| [[Assam Legislative Council]] || [[Shillong]] || 42 || 1950–1969 || Assam Legislative Council (Abolition) Act, 1969.
|-
| [[Bombay Legislative Council]] || [[Mumbai|Bombay]] || 78 || 1950–1960 || Bombay State Reorganisation Act, 1960.
|-
| [[Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council]] || [[Srinagar]] {{small|(summer)}} [[Jammu]] {{small|(winter)}} || 36 || 1957–2019 || [[Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019]].
|-
| [[Madhya Pradesh Legislative Council]]|| [[Bhopal]] || 77 || 1956–1969 || Madhya Pradesh Legislative Council (Abolition) Act, 1969.
|-
| [[Punjab Legislative Council]]|| [[Chandigarh]] || 39 || 1956–1969 || [[Punjab Legislative Council (Abolition) Act, 1969]].
|-
| [[Tamil Nadu Legislative Council]] || [[Chennai]] || 78 || 1956–1986 || Tamil Nadu Legislative Council (Abolition) Act, 1986.
|}

==Criticism & Support==
The State Legislative Councils are criticised for being unnecessary. It is considered a burden on the [[List of Indian state budgets|state budget]] and cause delays in passing legislations.<ref name="Business Standard"/> State legislative council helps the defeated leaders to get a seat in the [[State legislature (India)|state legislature]]. This reduces the feeling of democracy, since the leaders are elected indirectly. These are the reasons why most of the states don't prefer legislative councils. Other states support the establishment of legislative councils, arguing that they represent the [[Local government in India|local governments]] and also give voice to people having expertise in various fields (through Gubernatorial nominations).

==See also==
*[[State legislature (India)|State Legislature]]
*[[Upper house]]
*[[Rajya Sabha]]
*[[Council of State (India)|Council of State]]
*[[Legislative council]]
*[[State governments of India]]
*[[Politics of India]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Legislatures of India}}

[[Category:State legislatures of India|*]]
[[Category:State upper houses in India| ]]

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State legislative councils of India