The Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi is the

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

of the union territory of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

in India. Delhi Legislative Assembly is the legislative arm of the Government of Delhi. At present, it consists of 70

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

, directly elected from 70 constituencies. The tenure of the Legislative Assembly is five years unless dissolved sooner. The seat of assembly is the Old Secretariat building, which is also the seat of the Government of Delhi.

History

The Delhi Legislative Assembly was first constituted on 7 March 1952 under the Government of Part C States Act, 1951; it was inaugurated by Home Minister

K. N. Katju Kailash Nath Katju (17 June 1887 – 17 February 1968) was a prominent politician of India. He was the Governor of Odisha and West Bengal, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, the Union Home Minister and the Union Defence Minister. He was ...

. The Assembly had 48 members, and a Council of Ministers in an advisory role to the Chief Commissioner of Delhi, though it also had powers to make laws. The first Council of Ministers was led by Brahm Prakash, who became the first Chief Minister of Delhi. However, the

States Reorganisation Commission The States Reorganisation Commission of India (SRC) constituted by the Central Government of India in December 1953 to recommend the reorganization of state boundaries. In September 1955, after two years of study, the Commission, comprising Just ...

, set up in 1953, led to the Constitutional amendment through

States Reorganisation Act, 1956 The States Reorganisation Act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries have been made since 1956, the States ...

, which came into effect on 1 November 1956. This meant that Delhi was no longer a Part-C State and was made a

Union Territory Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...

under the direct administration of the President of India. Also the Delhi Legislative Assembly and the Council of Ministers were abolished simultaneously. Subsequently, the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 was enacted which led to the formation the Municipal Corporation. In September 1966, with "The Delhi Administration Act, 1966", the assembly was replaced by the Delhi Metropolitan Council with 56 elected and five nominated members with the

Lt. Governor of Delhi The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi is the constitutional head of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The post was established in September 1966, following the enactment of The Delhi Administration Act, 1966. Thereafter, the former Delhi Le ...

as its head. The Council however had no legislative powers, only an advisory role in the governance of Delhi. This set up functioned until 1990. This Council was finally replaced by the Delhi Legislative Assembly through the Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991, followed by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 the Sixty-ninth Amendment to the

Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India, legal document of India, and the longest written national constitution in the world. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures ...

, which declared the Union Territory of Delhi to be formally known as

National Capital Territory of Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

and also supplements the constitutional provisions relating to the Legislative Assembly and the Council of Ministers and related matters. The Legislative Assembly is selected for period of five years, and presently it is the seventh assembly, which was selected through the 2020 Legislative Assembly election.

Assembly building

The building was originally built in 1912, designed by E. Montague Thomas to hold the

Imperial Legislative Council The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of British Raj, British India from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Government of India Act 1858 by providing for the addition of six additional members to the Governor General ...

and subsequently the

Central Legislative Assembly The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Indian Legislature, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also sometimes calle ...

(after 1919), until the newly constructed Parliament House of India in New Delhi ( Sansad Bhawan) was inaugurated on 18 January 1927. The building also housed the Secretariat of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

, and was built after the capital of India shifted to Delhi from Calcutta. The temporary secretariat building was constructed in a few months' time in 1912. It functioned as the Secretariat for another decade, before the offices shifted to the present Secretariat Building on

Raisina Hill Raisina Hill (ISO: ''Rāyasīnā kī Pahāṛī''), often used as a metonym for the seat of the Government of India, is an area of New Delhi, housing India's most important government buildings, including Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official reside ...

List of assemblies

Office bearers

Members of Legislative Assembly

Notes

References

External links

Official Site of Legislature in Delhi
at the

National Informatics Centre The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is an Indian government department under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). It provides infrastructure, IT Consultancy, IT Services including but not limited to architecture, ...

website {{Authority control Government of Delhi State lower houses in India Legislative Assembly Unicameral legislatures