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The State Legislative Assembly, or Vidhana Sabha, or Saasana Sabha, [1] is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of India. In 28 states and 8 union territories, there is a unicameral legislature which is the sole legislative body. In 6 states, the legislative assembly is the lower house of their bicameral legislature with the upper house being the State Legislative Council. 5 union territories are governed directly by the Union Government of India and have no legislative body.
Each Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is directly elected to serve 5-year terms by single-member constituencies. The Constitution of India states that a State Legislative Assembly must have no less than 60 and no more than 500 members however an exception may be granted via an Act of Parliament as is the case in the states of Goa, Sikkim, Mizoram and the union territory of Puducherry which have fewer than 60 members. A State Legislative Assembly may be dissolved in a state of emergency, by the Governor on request of the Chief Minister, or if a motion of no confidence is passed against the ruling majority party or coalition. [2]
To become a member of a State Legislative Assembly, they must have their name in the voters' list of the state for which they are contesting an election. They may not be a Member of Parliament and Member of the State Legislative Council at the same time. They should also state that there is no criminal procedures against him or her. A State Legislative Assembly holds equal legislative power with the upper house of the state legislature, the State Legislative Council, except in the area of dissolution of state government and passing of money bills, in which case the State Legislative Assembly has the ultimate authority.
Powers of legislative assemblies are given down below:
The Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance is in power in 20 legislative assemblies; the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance is in power in 10 legislative assemblies; 1 legislative assemblies are ruled by other parties/alliances; and 5 union territories do not have a legislative assembly.
Politics of India works within the framework of the country's Constitution. India is a parliamentary secular democratic republic in which the president of India is the head of state & first citizen of India and the Prime Minister of India is the head of government. It is based on the federal structure of government, although the word is not used in the Constitution itself. India follows the dual polity system, i.e. federal in nature, that consists of the central authority at the centre and states at the periphery. The Constitution defines the organizational powers and limitations of both central and state governments; it is well recognised, fluid and considered supreme, i.e. the laws of the nation must conform to it. India is officially declared a secular and socialist state as per the Constitution.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP is aligned with right-wing politics and has close ideological and organisational links to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a far-right paramilitary organisation. Its policies adhere to Hindutva, a Hindu nationalist ideology. As of January 2024, it is the country's biggest political party in terms of representation in the Parliament of India as well as state legislatures.
The National Democratic Alliance is a right-wing Indian political group led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was founded on 15 May 1998 and currently controls the government of India as well as the government of 19 Indian states and one Union territory.
The Naga People's Front (NPF) is a regional political party in Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. It headed the Nagaland government with the Bharatiya Janata Party, as part of the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland from 2003 to 2018. NPF is coalition partner of N. Biren Singh ministry led BJP government in Manipur. The party ideology includes Conservative Christianity, thus encouraging it. It demands and supports greater autonomy for Naga areas and Naga cultural Nationalism.
India has a parliamentary system as defined by its constitution, with power distributed between the union government and the states. India's democracy is the largest democracy in the world.
A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district (constituency) to the legislature of State government in the Indian system of government. From each constituency, the people elect one representative who then becomes a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). Each state has between seven and nine MLAs for every Member of Parliament (MP) that it has in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's bicameral parliament. There are also members in three unicameral legislatures in Union Territories: the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the Puducherry Legislative Assembly. Only a Member of the Legislative Assembly can work as a minister for more than 6 months. If a non-Member of the Legislative Assembly becomes a Chief Minister or a minister, he must become an MLA within 6 months to continue in the job. Only a Member of the Legislative Assembly can become the Speaker of the Legislature.
The State Legislative Council, or Vidhan Parishad 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.
Kerala is an Indian state, where federal legislative power is vested in the unicameral Kerala Legislative Assembly. The multilateral system has, since 1956, been dominated by the several pre-poll and post-poll alliances.
Bihar Government is the state government of the Indian state of Bihar and its nine divisions which consist of districts. It consists of an executive, led by the Governor of Bihar, a judiciary and legislative branches.
The Government of Gujarat, also known as GujaratGovernment, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Gujarat and its 33 districts. It consists of an executive of the legislators appointed by the Governor of Gujarat, a judiciary and of a publicly elected legislative body.
State Governments of India are the governments ruling over the 28 states and 3 union territories of India with the head of Council of Ministers in every state being the Chief Minister. Power is divided between the Union government and the state governments.
The 2009 Odisha Legislative Assembly election took place in April 2009, concurrently with the general election. The elections were held in the state in two phases. The results were declared on 16 May. Despite having recently separated from the Bharatiya Janata Party after an eleven-year partnership, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) retained power in the Odisha State Assembly with a more convincing majority. Party chief Naveen Patnaik was formally re-elected as the BJD Legislature party leader on 19 May, thus paving the way for his third consecutive term as the Chief Minister of Odisha.
The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, also known as the Jammu and Kashmir Vidhan Sabha, is the legislature of Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Elections in the state of Bihar, India are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India. The Assembly of Bihar creates laws regarding the conduct of local body elections unilaterally while any changes by the state legislature to the conduct of state level elections need to be approved by the Parliament of India.
Elections for the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly in Uttarakhand state, India are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India. The legislative assembly of Uttarakhand creates laws regarding the conduct of local body elections unilaterally while any changes by the state legislature to the conduct of state level elections need to be approved by the Parliament of India. In addition, the state legislature may be dismissed by the Parliament according to Article 356 of the Indian Constitution and President's rule may be imposed.
The North-East Democratic Alliance is a political coalition that was formed on May 24, 2016, by Bharatiya Janata Party. The motive of the new political front was to unite non-Congress parties in Northeast India .Himanta Biswa Sarma was appointed as the convenor of the front.
Elections in the Republic of India in 2018 included by-elections to the Lok Sabha, elections to the Rajya Sabha, elections to of eight states and numerous other by-elections to state legislative assemblies, councils and local bodies.
The 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election was held on 21 October 2019 to elect all 288 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. After a 61.4% turnout in the election, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena (SHS) won a majority. Following differences over the government formation, the alliance was dissolved, precipitating a political crisis.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi, is a state-level political coalition formed after the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray of SHS (UBT), Sharad Pawar of the NCP and Sonia Gandhi of the INC, along with the support from the Samajwadi Party, PWPI, CPI(M) and several other political parties including Independent MLAs. MVA is currently the official opposition in Maharashtra Legislature.