State Legislative Council Election

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.

Only 6 out of 28 states have a Legislative Council. These are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.[1] No union territory has a legislative council.

For becoming a member of State Legislative Council, p errsonm MUST BE QUALIFIED and MUST NOT BE DISQUALIFIED under the Constitution or under any law.

Qualifications:

• a citizen of India

• of 30 years of age or above

• Oath or affirmation to bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution 

• Elector in an Assembly Constituency of the State concerned.

Disqualifications:

• Holding an Office of profit under the Government

• Being of Unsoundness of mind

• Being an undischarged insolvent

• Non-citizenship of India or acknowledgement of allegiance or adherence to a foreign State.

• Sec 8-conviction for certain offences

• Sec 8A- commission of corrupt practices

• Sec 9-dismissal from Govt. service for corruption or disloyalty

• Sec 9A-contract with “appropriate government”

• Sec 10-holding office under Government company

• Sec 10A-failure to lodge account of election expenses

The members of the Legislative Council are either nominated by the Governor of the state or indirectly elected. The Council elects its Chairman, who serves as the presiding officer, and a Deputy Chairman from among its members.

The composition of the Legislative Council is as follows:

• One-third of the members are elected by the Legislative Assembly.

• Another one-third are elected by local bodies, such as municipalities or other local authorities.

• One-twelfth of the members are elected by graduates.

• One-twelfth are elected by teachers.

• About one-sixth of the members are nominated by the Governor.

The total number of members in the Legislative Council cannot exceed one-third of the total number of members in the Legislative Assembly of the state. However, the Legislative Council must have at least forty members, in accordance with this principle.

• A system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote, as mentioned in Article 171 of the constitution.