State Legislature: Composition, Powers, and Functions

TOPIC CLASSIFICATION

Subject: Indian Polity - State Government
Sub-topic: State Legislature (Articles 168-212)
Mains GS Paper-II: Parliament and State Legislatures - structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers, privileges.

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EXAMINER REASONING

Examiners test this topic at three levels: (1) factual recall - composition, duration, qualifications for membership; (2) comparative analysis - differences between Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, parallels with Parliament; (3) applied problem-solving - situations like a hung assembly, money Bill definition disputes, or vacancy scenarios. Expect a mix of Prelims statement-based questions and Mains "compare and contrast" prompts with Parliament.

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Core Concept

The State Legislature is the law-making body at the state level, constituted under Part VI (The States) of the Constitution, Articles 168-212. Every state must have a legislature; the composition can be unicameral (only Legislative Assembly - Vidhan Sabha) or bicameral (Legislative Assembly + Legislative Council - Vidhan Parishad).

Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha):

• Directly elected by adult suffrage from territorial constituencies
• Maximum strength: 500; Minimum: 60 (exceptions: Sikkim 32, Goa 40, Mizoram 40)
• Term: 5 years unless dissolved earlier
• Speaker is the presiding officer

Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad):

• Created/abolished by Parliament on a resolution of the state...