UP Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad: Seats and Powers

Uttar Pradesh is one of the few states in India with a legislature of two Houses. Article 168 says the legislature of a state consists of the Governor and either one House or two, and for Uttar Pradesh it is the Vidhan Sabha, the Legislative Assembly, together with the Vidhan Parishad, the Legislative Council. Both sit in the Vidhan Bhavan at Lucknow, and the rules that govern them run from Article 168 to Article 212 of the Constitution. Because the state has the largest Assembly and the largest Council in the country, its numbers are asked in UPPSC, UPSSSC, UP Police and SSC papers almost every year, and they are easy marks for a candidate who has the figures and the articles in place.

The Vidhan Sabha

Article 170 says a Legislative Assembly shall have not more than 500 and not fewer than 60 members, chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies. The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha has 403 elected members, the largest in India; it had 425 seats until the hill districts went to the new state of Uttaranchal, now Uttarakhand, on 9 November 2000. After the delimitation that took effect in 2008, 84 of the 403 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 2 for the Scheduled Tribes. The single seat that used to be filled by nomination of an Anglo-Indian member came to an end in January 2020, when the reservation for the community under Article 333 was not extended further. Under Article 172 the Assembly lasts five years from the date of its first meeting unless dissolved earlier, and the term may be extended by Parliament by up to one year at a time while a Proclamation of Emergency is in force, and not beyond six months after it ceases. A candidate must be at least 25 years of age under Article 173. The state also returns 80 members to the Lok Sabha and 31 to the Rajya Sabha, more than any other state.

The Vidhan Parishad

Article 171 limits a Legislative Council to one-third of the strength of the Assembly, with a floor of 40 members. The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad has 100 members, which is the largest Council of any Indian state. Its composition follows the fractions in Article 171(3): one-third elected by the electorates of local authorities such as municipalities and district boards, one-third elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly from persons who are not members of the Assembly, one-twelfth by graduates of three years standing, one-twelfth by teachers of not lower than secondary school level, and the remaining sixth nominated by the Governor from persons with special knowledge or practical experience of literature, science, art, the co-operative movement and social service. A member holds office for six years, one-third of the members retiring every second year, and the Council is a permanent House that cannot be dissolved. The minimum age for membership is 30 years. Article 169 allows Parliament to create or abolish a Council by law, but only after the Legislative Assembly of the state passes a resolution by a majority of its total membership and by not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting.

The two Houses compared

How a bill becomes law

An ordinary bill may begin in either House, but the Council cannot stop it. Article 197 lets the Council hold a bill sent by the Assembly for not more than three months the first time; if the Assembly passes it again and the Council delays it a second time, the delay cannot exceed one month, and the bill is then deemed to have been passed by both Houses. The maximum power of the Vidhan Parishad over an ordinary bill is therefore a delay of four months, and the Constitution provides no joint sitting for a state legislature, which is one of the clearest differences from Parliament. A money bill, defined in Article 199, can be introduced only in the Vidhan Sabha and only on the recommendation of the Governor under Article 207; the Council may make recommendations within fourteen days, and the Assembly may accept or reject them. A bill passed by the legislature goes to the Governor under Article 200, who may assent, withhold assent, return a bill that is not a money bill for reconsideration, or reserve it for the consideration of the President.

Sessions, quorum and seats

The Governor summons each House under Article 174 so that not more than six months pass between the last sitting of one session and the first sitting of the next, and he may prorogue either House or dissolve the Assembly. Under Article 176 he addresses the House, or both Houses together, at the first session after each general election and at the first session of every year. Members take the oath before the Governor or a person appointed by him under Article 188. The quorum under Article 189 is one-tenth of the total number of members of the House or ten members, whichever is greater. A House may declare a seat vacant under Article 190 if a member is absent from all its meetings for sixty days without permission, and Article 191 lists the disqualifications, to which the anti-defection provisions of the Tenth Schedule are added; a question of defection is decided by the Speaker of the Assembly or the Chairman of the Council. Article 208 lets each House make its own rules of procedure, and Article 212 bars the courts from enquiring into the proceedings of the legislature on the ground of an irregularity of procedure.