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 A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

; 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 Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, Karnataka,

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 35 ...

, Maharashtra,

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Ben ...

, and Uttar Pradesh.

Qualification and tenure

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

citizen of India Indian nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds Indian nationality. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the Constitution of India and the Citizenship Act, 1955. All persons born in In ...

, 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 A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, 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 arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

, the

co-operative movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...

and

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

. *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

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

s 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 A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

in the state.

Current State Legislative Councils

State Legislative Councils by ruling parties

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

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 document prepared by the government and/or other political entity presenting its anticipated tax revenues (Inheritance tax, income tax, corporation tax, import taxes) and proposed spending/expenditure (Healthcare, Educa ...

and cause delays in passing legislations. State legislative council helps the defeated leaders to get a seat in the

. 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 Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

and also give voice to people having expertise in various fields (through Gubernatorial nominations).

References

{{Legislatures of India *