The State Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha,[1] also called Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of India. In 22 states and 3 union territories, there is a unicameral legislature which is the sole legislative body. In 6 states, the legislative assembly is the lower house of their bicameral legislature with the upper house being the State Legislative Council. 5 union territories are governed directly by the Union Government of India and have no legislative body.

Each Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is directly elected to serve 5-year terms by single-member constituencies. The Constitution of India states that a State Legislative Assembly must have no less than 60 and no more than 500 members however an exception may be granted via an Act of Parliament as is the case in the states of Goa, Sikkim, Mizoram and the union territory of Puducherry which have fewer than 60 members. A State Legislative Assembly may be dissolved in a state of emergency, by the Governor on request of the Chief Minister, or if a motion of no confidence is passed against the ruling majority party or coalition.[2]

Member of Legislative Assembly

To become a member of a State Legislative Assembly, they must have their name in the voters' list of the state for which they are contesting an election. They may not be a Member of Parliament and Member of the State Legislative Council at the same time. They should also state that there is no criminal procedures against him or her. A State Legislative Assembly holds equal legislative power with the upper house of the state legislature, the State Legislative Council, except in the area of dissolution of state government and passing of money bills, in which case the State Legislative Assembly has the ultimate authority.

Powers of legislative assemblies are given down below:

  • A motion of no confidence against the government in the state can only be introduced in the State Legislative Assembly. If it is passed by a majority vote, then the Chief Minister and her/his Council of Ministers must collectively resign.
  • A money bill can only be introduced in State Legislative Assembly. In bicameral jurisdictions, after it is passed in the State Legislative Assembly, it is sent to the State Legislative Council, where it can be kept for a maximum time of 14 days.
  • In matters related to ordinary bills, the will of the State Legislative Assembly prevails and there is no provision of joint sitting. In such cases, State Legislative Council can delay the legislation by a maximum of 4 months (3 months in the first visit and 1 month in the second visit of the bill).
  • Legislative Assembly of the state has the power to create or abolish the State Legislative Council by passing a resolution to that effect by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting.[3]

Current State Legislative Assemblies

Legislative AssemblySeat(s)House
strength[4]		 Ruling partyCurrent term
Andhra Pradesh Amaravati175 YSR Congress Party Fifteenth
Arunachal PradeshItanagar60 Bharatiya Janata Party Tenth
AssamDispur126 Bharatiya Janata Party Fifteenth
BiharPatna 243 Janata Dal (United) Seventeenth
Chhattisgarh Raipur90 Bharatiya Janata Party Sixth
DelhiNew Delhi70 Aam Aadmi Party Seventh
GoaPanaji 40 Bharatiya Janata Party Eighth
Gujarat Gandhinagar182 Bharatiya Janata Party Fifteenth
HaryanaChandigarh90 Bharatiya Janata Party Fourteenth
Himachal PradeshShimla (summer)
Dharamshala (winter)		 68 Indian National Congress Fourteenth
Jammu and Kashmir Srinagar (summer)
Jammu (winter)		90 N/A
(President's rule)
JharkhandRanchi81 Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Fifth
Karnataka Bangalore (summer)
Belgaum (winter)		224 Indian National Congress Sixteenth
KeralaThiruvananthapuram140 Communist Party of India (Marxist) Fifteenth
Madhya PradeshBhopal230 Bharatiya Janata Party Sixteenth
MaharashtraMumbai (summer)
Nagpur (winter)		 288 Shiv Sena Fourteenth
ManipurImphal60 Bharatiya Janata Party Twelfth
MeghalayaShillong60 National People's Party Eleventh
MizoramAizawl40 Zoram People's Movement Ninth
NagalandKohima60 Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party Fourteenth
OdishaBhubaneshwar147 Biju Janata Dal Sixteenth
PuducherryPuducherry30 All India N.R. Congress Fifteenth
PunjabChandigarh117 Aam Aadmi Party Sixteenth
RajasthanJaipur200 Bharatiya Janata Party Sixteenth
SikkimGangtok32 Sikkim Krantikari Morcha Tenth
Tamil NaduChennai234 Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Sixteenth
TelanganaHyderabad119 Indian National Congress Third
TripuraAgartala60 Bharatiya Janata Party Thirteenth
Uttar PradeshLucknow403 Bharatiya Janata Party Eighteenth
UttarakhandBhararisain (summer)
Dehradun (winter)		70 Bharatiya Janata Party Fifth
West BengalKolkata294 All India Trinamool Congress Seventeenth
Total — 4123 —

    State Legislative Assemblies by ruling parties

      NDA (BJP led alliance) (5)
      I.N.D.I.A. (INC led alliance) (7)
      Other parties (3)
    Ruling party States/UTs
    NDA (17)[5]
    Bharatiya Janata Party 12
    All India N.R. Congress 1
    Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party 1
    National People's Party 1
    Shiv Sena 1
    Sikkim Krantikari Morcha 1
    I.N.D.I.A. (10)[6]
    Indian National Congress 3
    Aam Aadmi Party 2
    All India Trinamool Congress 1
    Communist Party of India (Marxist) 1
    Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 1
    Janata Dal (United) 1
    Jharkhand Mukti Morcha 1
    Others (3)
    Biju Janata Dal 1
    YSR Congress Party 1
    Zoram People's Movement 1

    The Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance is in power in 17 legislative assemblies; the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance is in power in 10 legislative assemblies; 3 legislative assemblies are ruled by other parties/alliances; and 5 union territories do not have a legislative assembly. The newly formed Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has not had elections to form a government and President's rule has been imposed there.

    Former State Legislative Assemblies

    Assembly Seat Period active Abolished by
    Ajmer Legislative Assembly Ajmer1950–1956States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
    Bombay Legislative Assembly Bombay1950–1960Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960.
    Coorg Legislative Assembly Mercara1950–1956States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
    Hyderabad Legislative Assembly Hyderabad1952–1956States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
    PEPSU Legislative Assembly Patiala1950–1956States Reorganisation Act, 1956.

    See also

    References

    1. ↑ "Vidhan_Sabha". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins Publishers. 2014.
    2. ↑ "State Legislative Assemblies" (PDF). www.india.gov.in. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
    3. ↑ "Explainer: Why Jagan Reddy wants to abolish the legislative council in Andhra Pradesh". The Week.
    4. ↑ "Terms of the Houses". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
    5. ↑ "Explained: The 38 parties in the NDA fold". The Indian Express. 19 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
    6. ↑ Ghosh, Sanchari (19 July 2023). "INDIA from UPA: Opposition's push for a new name explained". mint. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
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