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.
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.
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 Assembly (Article 169) — simple majority + ordinary majority in Parliament
- Maximum strength: 1/3rd of Assembly; Minimum: 40
- Indirectly elected (5/6 members): 1/3 by local bodies, 1/3 by Assembly (MLAs), 1/6 by graduates, 1/12 by teachers; 1/6 nominated by Governor
- Permanent House — not subject to dissolution; 1/3 members retire every 2 years
- Only 6 states currently have a Council: UP, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh
Powers:
- Ordinary Bills: Council can delay for 4 months (revisory role)
- Money Bills: Council cannot amend/reject; only recommend within 14 days
- Constitutional Amendment Bills: equal role
- Control over executive through questions, motions, adjournments