Located in

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divis ...

, the Vidhan Bhavan is the seat of the

bicameral legislature Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gr ...

of the Indian state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

. The lower house is the

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha, or also Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in the states and union territories of India. In the 28 states and 3 union territories with a unicameral state legislature, it is the sole legislati ...

(Legislative Assembly) and the upper house is called the Vidhan Parishad or the (Legislative Council). The Vidhan Sabha had 431 members until 1967, but now comprises 403 directly elected members and one nominated member from the

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The '' Oxford English ...

community. The Vidhan Parishad has 100 members. Built in 1928, the building was originally called the "Council House". It has been home to the legislature since 1937, along with housing other important offices of government.

History

In early 20th century, the capital of what is now the state of Uttar Pradesh was

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administra ...

; a decision was taken in 1922 to move the capital to Lucknow and to construct a building there to house the Assembly Constituency. On 15 December 1922, then Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Spencer Harcourt Butler, laid the foundation of the Vidhan Bhavan. The building was designed by Samuel Swinton Jacob and Heera Singh; Singh also drew up the

blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

of the building. Butler subsequently monitored the construction of the building. The building was completed in little over five years at a cost of (1922 cost not adjusted for inflation) and was inaugurated on 21 February 1928.

Building

Construction of Vidhan Bhavan started 15 December 1922 and took little over five years to complete. The building is made of carved light brown

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

from

Mirzapur Mirzapur () is a city in Uttar Pradesh, India, 827 km from Delhi and 733 km from Kolkata, almost 91 km from Prayagraj (formally known as Allahabad) and 61 km from Varanasi. It is known for its carpets and brassware industries, and the folk ...

. Many of the inside halls, galleries and

veranda A veranda or verandah is a roofed, open-air gallery or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front and sides of the structure. Although the form ''vera ...

s are built of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

from

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra ...

and

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known a ...

. Circular marble staircases run on both sides of the entrance hall and the walls of the staircases are embellished with paintings. The main

chamber Chamber or the chamber may refer to: In government and organizations *Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests *Legislative chamber, in politics *Debate chamber, the space or room that houses deliber ...

of the building is

octagonal In geometry, an octagon (from the Greek ὀκτάγωνον ''oktágōnon'', "eight angles") is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t ...

in shape with a domed roof. A separate chamber for the upper house was constructed between 1935 and 1937. The buildings of both houses are connected by veranda with offices on both sides.

Composition

Articles 168 to 212 in Part VI of the constitution of India deal with the organisation, composition, duration, officers, procedures, privileges, powers and so on of the state legislature. The Uttar Pradesh Legislature (Vidhan Bhavan) consists of two houses called the Vidhan Sabha and the Vidhan Parishad with the governor of Uttar Pradesh acting as their head.

Governor of Uttar Pradesh

Articles 153 to 167 in Part VI of the constitution of India deal with the state executive. The state executive consists of the governor, the chief minister, council of ministers and the advocate general of the state. The governor is the chief executive head of the state. The governor also acts as the agent of the center.

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha)

The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral legislature. It has a total of 403 members excluding one Anglo-Indian member who is nominated by the governor. Till 1967, it had a strength of 431 members, including one nominated Anglo-Indian member. According to the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission, which is appointed after every Census, it was revised to 426. After reorganisation of the state on 9 November 2000, the strength of the Legislative Assembly has become 404 including one nominated member to represent the Anglo-Indian community. The term of the Vidhan Sabha is five years unless dissolved earlier. The election is held on the principle of "one adult one vote". Vidhan Sabha (at day)

Terms

Every five years new election is done. And new assembly is elected by the people of Uttar Pradesh.

Constituencies

There are total 403 constituencies given below in the table.

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad)

''Main Article : Vidhan Parishad'' The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad or the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council is the upper house of the

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single gr ...

legislature of

state in northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

is one of the seven states in India, where the state legislature is bicameral, comprising two houses: the

(Legislative Assembly) and the Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council). The Vidhan Parishad is a permanent House, consisting of 100 members.

History

The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad came into existence by the Government of India Act of 1935. The governor,

Ram Naik Ram Naik (born 16 April 1934) is a veteran Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party, served as the 27th Governor of Uttar Pradesh. Political career Ram Naik was a member of the 13th Lok Sabha and was Minister of Oil and Natural Gas i ...

, was a part of it. The Legislative Council consisted of 60 members. The term of a member of the council was nine years with one-third of its members retiring after every three years. The Houses enjoyed the right of electing their Presiding Officers known as the president. The first meeting of the legislative council was held on 29 July 1937. Sir Sitaram and Begum Aijaz Rasul were elected the president and the vice-president of the legislative council respectively. Sir Sitaram was in office till 9 March 1949. Chandra Bhal became the next chairman on 10 March 1949. After the independence and adoption of the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these pr ...

on 26 January 1950 Chandra Bhal was re-elected the chairman of the legislative council and continued in office till 5 May 1958. Sri Nizamuddin was elected the deputy chairman of the council on 27 May 1952. He continued in office till 1964.

Nominations and election

When, under the provisions of the

Government of India Act 1935 The Government of India Act, 1935 was an Act adapted from the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It originally received royal assent in August 1935. It was the longest Act of (British) Parliament ever enacted until the Greater London Authority ...

, the legislative council came into existence in the United Provinces, it comprised 60 members. On 26 January 1950, the total membership of the Vidhan Parishad (legislative council) of

state was increased from 60 to 72. With the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1956, the strength of the council was enhanced to 108. After the reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh state in November 2000 and the creation of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

state, this strength has now reduced to 100. The present composition of the Vidhan Parishad is as follows: * 10 members are nominated by the governor of

. * 38 members are elected by the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha members. * 36 members are elected by the Local bodies. * 8 members are elected by the teachers. * 8 members are elected by the graduates.

Term

Members are now elected or nominated for six years and one-third of them retire every second year. The presiding officers of Vidhan Parishad are now known as chairman and deputy chairman. Mr. Ramesh Yadav is a chairman of this house at a time.

Constituencies and members

The following are the constituencies of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad: The names of Dr Kamlesh Kumar Pathak, Sanjay Seth, Ranvijay Singh, Abdul Sarfraz Khan and Dr Rajpal Kashyap as recommended by the government were rejected by the governor

as they were not nominated on basis or excellence in arts, social service, science etc.

References

{{Lucknow Buildings and structures completed in 1928 1928 establishments in India Legislative buildings in India Buildings and structures in Lucknow Samuel Swinton Jacob buildings Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Uttar Pradesh Legislature Government buildings in Uttar Pradesh

History

Building

Composition

Governor of Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha)

Terms

Constituencies

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad)

History

Nominations and election

Term

Constituencies and members

See also

References