The State Legislative Council, also known as the Vidhan Parishad or the Saasana Mandali, is the

upper house An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...

in those states of

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

that have a

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...

state legislature; the

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

being the State Legislative Assembly. Its establishment is defined in Article 169 of 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 ...

. Only 6 out of 28 states have a Legislative Council. These are

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. No

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 ...

has a legislative council.

Member of the Legislative Council

Members of a State Legislative Council (MLC) must be a

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, at least 30 years old, mentally sound, not an

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, and must be an enrolled voter of the state. A member may not be a Member of Parliament and Member of the State Legislative Assembly at the same time. A member must not hold any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any state.
The tenure of the MLCs is six years. One-third of the members of State Legislative Council retire after every two years. This arrangement parallels that for the

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

, the upper house of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

Composition

The size of the State Legislative Council cannot be more than one third of the membership of the State Legislative Assembly. However, its size cannot be less than 40 members. These members elect the chairman and Deputy Chairman of the State Legislative Council. MLCs are chosen in the following manner: *One third are elected by the members of local bodies such as

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, Gram panchayats, Panchayat samitis and district councils. *One third are elected by the

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of Legislative Assembly of the State from among the persons who are not members of the State Legislative Assembly. *One sixth are nominated by the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

from persons having knowledge or practical experience in fields such as

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, the co-operative movement and

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. *One twelfth are elected by persons who are graduates of three years' standing residing in that state. *One twelfth are elected by teachers who had spent at least three years in teaching in educational institutions within the state not lower than

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s, including

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s and

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Creation, abolition and roles of State Legislative Councils

According to the Article 169 of the Constitution of India, the Parliament of India can create or abolish the State Legislative Council of a state if that state's legislature passes a resolution for that with a special majority. As of 9 January 2024, 6 out of the 28 states have State Legislative Council. The existence of a State Legislative Council has proven politically controversial. A number of states that have had their Legislative Council abolished have subsequently requested its re-establishment; conversely, proposals for the re-establishment of the Legislative Council for a state have also met with opposition. Proposals for abolition or re-establishment of a state's Legislative Council require confirmation by the

. The Constitution of India gives limited power to the State Legislative Council. The State Legislative Council can neither form or dissolve a

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

. The State Legislative Council also have no role in the passing of

money bill In the Westminster system (and, colloquially, in the United States), a money bill or supply bill is a bill that solely concerns taxation or government spending (also known as appropriation of money), as opposed to changes in public law. Con ...

s. Further per Article 197, the Legislative Assembly of a State has overriding powers over its Legislative Council, in that where any bill passed by the Assembly is rejected by the Council but is passed again by the Assembly with or without any amendments suggested by the Council, the bill is deemed to have been passed by both the houses in the manner that it is passed by the Assembly for the second time. But some of the powers it has is that the chairman and Deputy Chairman of the State Legislative Council enjoy the same status of Cabinet Ministers in the state.

Current State Legislative Councils

Present-Past State Legislative Councils in India

State Legislative Councils by ruling parties

The

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

-led

National Democratic Alliance The National Democratic Alliance (NDA; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Rāṣṭrīya Lokatāntrik Gaṭhabandhan'') is an Indian big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance, led by the country's biggest political party, the Bharatiya Janata Pa ...

is in power in 4 legislative councils; the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

-led

Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is a big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance of several List of political parties in India, political parties in India led by the country's largest opposition party ...

is in power in 2 legislative councils; and 30 other states/union territories do not have a legislative council.

Former State Legislative Councils

Proposed State Legislative Councils

There are currently 4 proposals for creation of Legislative Councils: * Rajasthan Legislative Council - On April 18, 2012, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly passed a resolution to create a Legislative Council for the state of Rajasthan with 66 members. The Rajasthan Legislative Council Bill, 2013 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on August 6, 2013, and has been referred to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice. * West Bengal Legislative Council - On 6 July 2021,

West Bengal Legislative Assembly The West Bengal Legislative Assembly (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paścimabaṅga Vidhānasabhā'') is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of West Bengal, located in eastern India. It consists of 294 members directly elected from single-seat ...

passed a resolution supporting an ad-hoc committee report that favoured the creation of Legislative Council for the state of West Bengal. * Odisha Legislative Council - On 18 September 2018,

Odisha Legislative Assembly The Odisha Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Odisha state in India. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is at Bhubaneswar, the capital of the state. The Legislative Assembly comprises List of constituencies of Odisha ...

passed a resolution for setting up a Legislative Council for the state of Odisha with 49 members. * Assam Legislative Council - on 14 July 2013, Assam Legislative Assembly passed a resolution for the creation of Legislative Council in the state of Assam with 42 members. The Assam Legislative Council Bill, 2013 was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 3 December 2013.

Criticism and support

The State Legislative Councils are criticised for being unnecessary. It is considered a burden on the

state budget A government budget is a projection of the government's revenues and expenditure for a particular period, often referred to as a financial or fiscal year, which may or may not correspond with the calendar year. Government revenues mostly include ...

and cause delays in passing legislation. State legislative council helps the defeated leaders to get a seat in the state legislature. This reduces the feeling of democracy, since the leaders are elected indirectly. These are the reasons why most of the states don't prefer legislative councils. Other states support the establishment of legislative councils, arguing that they represent the local governments and also give voice to people having expertise in various fields (through Gubernatorial nominations).

References

{{Legislatures of India *