Located in

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

, the Vidhan Bhavan is the seat of the

bicameral legislature Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single ...

of the Indian state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. The lower house is the

Vidhan Sabha The State Legislative Assembly, also known as the Vidhan Sabha or the Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of India. Members of the legislative assembly are often directly elected to serve fiv ...

(Legislative Assembly) and the upper house the

Vidhan Parishad The State Legislative Council, also known as the Vidhan Parishad or the 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 establishme ...

(Legislative Council). The Vidhan Sabha had 431 members until 1967, but now comprises 403 directly elected members and one nominated member from the

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

community. The Vidhan Parishad has 100 members. Built in 1928, the building was originally called the "Council House". It has been home to the legislature since 1937, along with housing other important offices of government.

History

In the early 20th century, the capital of what is now the state of Uttar Pradesh was

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

; a decision was taken in 1922 to move the capital to Lucknow and to construct a building there to house the Assembly Constituency. On 15 December 1922, then

Governor of Uttar Pradesh The governor of Uttar Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Uttara Pradēśa kē Rājyapāla'') is the constitutional head of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The governor is appointed by the president of India. The post is preceded by the governor of U ...

Spencer Harcourt Butler Sir Spencer Harcourt Butler (1 August 1869 – 2 March 1938) was an officer of the Indian Civil Service who was the leading British official in Burma for much of his career, serving as Lieutenant-Governor (1915–17 and 1922–23) and later Go ...

, laid the foundation of the Vidhan Bhavan. The building was designed by

Samuel Swinton Jacob Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob, (14 January 1841 – 4 December 1917), known as Sir Swinton Jacob, was a British Army officer and colonial engineer, architect and writer, best known for the numerous Indian public buildings he designed in the Indo-S ...

and Heera Singh; Singh also drew up the

blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842. The process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

of the building. Butler subsequently monitored the construction of the building. The building was completed in little over five years at a cost of (1922 cost not adjusted for inflation) and was inaugurated on 21 February 1928.

Building

Construction of Vidhan Bhavan started 15 December 1922 and took little over five years to complete. The building is made of carved light brown

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

from

Mirzapur Mirzapur () is a city in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is known for its carpets and brassware industries, and the tradition of kajari and birha music. Straddled by the Kaimur extension of Vindhya mountains, it served as the headquarters of t ...

. Many of the inside halls, galleries and

veranda A veranda (also spelled verandah in Australian and New Zealand English) is a roofed, open-air hallway or porch, attached to the outside of a building. A veranda is often partly enclosed by a railing and frequently extends across the front an ...

s are built of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

from

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

and

Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...

. Circular marble staircases run on both sides of the entrance hall and the walls of the staircases are embellished with paintings. The main chamber of the building is

octagonal In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a hex ...

in shape with a domed roof. A separate chamber for the upper house was constructed between 1935 and 1937. The buildings of both houses are connected by veranda with offices on both sides. Vidhan sabha interior

Composition

Articles 168 to 212 in Part VI of the constitution of India deal with the organisation, composition, duration, officers, procedures, privileges, powers and so on of the state legislature. The Uttar Pradesh Legislature (Vidhan Bhavan) consists of two houses called the Vidhan Sabha and the Vidhan Parishad with the governor of Uttar Pradesh acting as their head.

Governor of Uttar Pradesh

Articles 153 to 167 in Part VI of the constitution of India deal with the state executive. The state executive consists of the governor, the chief minister, council of ministers and the advocate general of the state. The governor is the chief executive head of the state. The governor also acts as the agent of the center.

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha)

The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral legislature. It has a total of 403 members excluding one Anglo-Indian member who is nominated by the governor. Till 1967, it had a strength of 431 members, including one nominated Anglo-Indian member. According to the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission, which is appointed after every Census, it was revised to 426. After reorganisation of the state on 9 November 2000, the strength of the Legislative Assembly has become 404 including one nominated member to represent the Anglo-Indian community. The term of the Vidhan Sabha is five years unless dissolved earlier. The election is held on the principle of "one adult one vote".

Terms

Every five years new election is done. And new assembly is elected by the people of Uttar Pradesh.

Constituencies

There are total 403 constituencies given below in the table.

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad)

''Main Article :

'' The

Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council also known as Vidhan Parishad is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh, a state in India. Uttar Pradesh is one of the six states in India, where the state legislature is bicameral, c ...

or the

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council also known as Vidhan Parishad is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Uttar Pradesh, a state in India. Uttar Pradesh is one of the six states in India, where the state legislature is bicameral, c ...

is the upper house of the

bicameral Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...

legislature of

state in northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

is one of the seven states in India, where the state legislature is bicameral, comprising two houses: the

(Legislative Assembly) and the

(Legislative Council). The Vidhan Parishad is a permanent House, consisting of 100 members.

History

The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad came into existence by the Government of India Act of 1935. The governor,

Ram Naik Ram Naik (born 17 April 1934) is a veteran Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party who served as the 19th Governor of Uttar Pradesh. Political career Ram Naik was a member of the 13th Lok Sabha and was Minister of Oil and Natural Gas ...

, was a part of it. The Legislative Council consisted of 60 members. The term of a member of the council was nine years with one-third of its members retiring after every three years. The Houses enjoyed the right of electing their Presiding Officers known as the president. The first meeting of the legislative council was held on 29 July 1937. Sir Sitaram and Begum Aijaz Rasul were elected the president and the vice-president of the legislative council respectively. Sir Sitaram was in office till 9 March 1949. Chandra Bhal became the next chairman on 10 March 1949. After the independence and adoption of the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

on 26 January 1950 Chandra Bhal was re-elected the chairman of the legislative council and continued in office till 5 May 1958. Sri Nizamuddin was elected the deputy chairman of the council on 27 May 1952. He continued in office till 1964.

Nominations and election

When, under the provisions of the

Government of India Act 1935 The Government of India Act 1935 (25 & 26 Geo. 5. c. 42) was an Act of Parliament (UK), act passed by the British Parliament that originally received royal assent in August 1935. It was the longest act that the British Parliament ever enact ...

, the legislative council came into existence in the United Provinces, it comprised 60 members. On 26 January 1950, the total membership of the Vidhan Parishad (legislative council) of

state was increased from 60 to 72. With the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act 1956, the strength of the council was enhanced to 108. After the reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh state in November 2000 and the creation of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

state, this strength has now reduced to 100. The present composition of the Vidhan Parishad is as follows: * 10 members are nominated by the governor of

. * 38 members are elected by the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha members. * 36 members are elected by the Local bodies. * 8 members are elected by the teachers. * 8 members are elected by the graduates.

Term

Members are now elected or nominated for six years and one-third of them retire every second year. The presiding officers of Vidhan Parishad are now known as chairman and deputy chairman. Mr. Ramesh Yadav is a chairman of this house at a time.

Constituencies and members

The following are the constituencies of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Parishad: The names of Dr Kamlesh Kumar Pathak, Sanjay Seth, Ranvijay Singh, Abdul Sarfraz Khan and Dr Rajpal Kashyap as recommended by the government were rejected by the governor

as they were not nominated on basis or excellence in arts, social service, science etc.

References

{{Lucknow Government buildings completed in 1928 1928 establishments in India Legislative buildings in India Buildings and structures in Lucknow Samuel Swinton Jacob buildings Uttar Pradesh Legislature Government buildings in Uttar Pradesh 20th-century architecture in India

History

Building

Composition

Governor of Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha)

Terms

Constituencies

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad)

History

Nominations and election

Term

Constituencies and members

See also

References