State legislative councils of India

For the lower house, see State legislative assemblies of India.

The State Legislative Council, or Vidhan Parishad, or Saasana Mandali is the upper house in those states of India that have a bicameral state legislature; the lower house being the State Legislative Assembly. Its establishment is defined in Article 169 of the Constitution of India.

As of 2022, 6 out of 28 states have a State Legislative Council. These are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.

Qualification and tenure

Members of a State Legislative Council (MLC) must be a citizen of India, at least 30 years old, mentally sound, not an insolvent, 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.
The tenure of the MLCs are six years. One-third of the members of State Legislative Council retire after every two years. This arrangement parallels that for the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India.

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 municipalities, Gram panchayats, Panchayat samitis and district councils.
• One third are elected by the members 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 from persons having knowledge or practical experience in fields such as literature, science, arts, the co-operative movement and social services.
• 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 secondary schools, including colleges and universities.

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 December 2020, 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 Parliament of India.

The Constitution of India gives limited power to the State Legislative Council. The State Legislative Council can neither form or dissolve a state government. The State Legislative Council also have no role in the passing of money bills. 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

See also: State governments of India

Council	Seat(s)	House strength			Ruling party
		Elected	Nom.	Total
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council	Amaravati	50	8	58		YSR Congress Party
Bihar Legislative Council	Patna	63	12	75		Janata Dal (United)
Karnataka Legislative Council	Bangalore (summer) Belagavi (winter)	64	11	75		Bharatiya Janata Party
Maharashtra Legislative Council	Mumbai (summer) Nagpur (winter)	66	12	78		Shiv Sena
Telangana Legislative Council	Hyderabad	34	6	40		Telangana Rashtra Samithi
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council	Lucknow	90	10	100		Bharatiya Janata Party
Total	—	367	59	426	—

State Legislative Councils by ruling parties

Ruling party		States
NDA (3)
	Bharatiya Janata Party	2
	Shiv Sena	1
UPA (1)
	Janata Dal (United)	1
Others (2)
	Telangana Rashtra Samithi	1
	YSR Congress Party	1

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is in power in 3 states; the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance is in power in 1 state; 2 states are ruled by other parties/alliances.

Former State Legislative Councils

Council	Seat(s)	House strength	Years active	Abolished by
Assam Legislative Council	Shillong	42	1950–1969	Assam Legislative Council (Abolition) Act, 1969
Bombay Legislative Council	Bombay	78	1950–1960	Bombay State Reorganisation Act, 1960
Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council	Srinagar (summer) Jammu (winter)	36	1957–2019	Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019
Madhya Pradesh Legislative Council	Bhopal	77	1956–1969	Madhya Pradesh Legislative Council (Abolition) Act, 1969
Punjab Legislative Council	Chandigarh	39	1956–1969	Punjab Legislative Council (Abolition) Act, 1969
Tamil Nadu Legislative Council	Chennai	78	1956–1986	Tamil Nadu Legislative Council (Abolition) Act, 1986
Uttarakhand Legislative Council	Dehradun	8	2000–2002	Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000
West Bengal Legislative Council	Kolkata	98	1952–1969	West Bengal Legislative Council (Abolition) Act, 1969

Criticism and support

The State Legislative Councils are criticised for being unnecessary. It is considered a burden on the state budget and cause delays in passing legislations. 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).

See also

• State Legislature
• Upper house
• Rajya Sabha
• Council of State
• Legislative council
• State governments of India
• Politics of India