Composition of the Legislative Assembly

Vidhan Sabha composition is laid down in Article 170 of the Constitution, which fixes the Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) of every state as a directly elected House with a strength ranging between 60 and 500 members. The Assembly is the lower and more powerful House wherever a state has a bicameral legislature, and in most states it is the only House. Its size is not uniform — it is scaled to each state's population through periodic delimitation of constituencies.

Article 170: Strength and Method of Election

Article 170 provides that the Legislative Assembly of a state shall consist of not more than 500 and not less than 60 members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the state. To give effect to the principle of "one vote, one value" as far as practicable, the state is divided into territorial constituencies in such a manner that the ratio between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it remains, as far as possible, the same throughout the state. This is the same delimitation logic used for the Lok Sabha, and it means an assembly's size grows or shrinks broadly in line with population changes revealed at each delimitation exercise, subject to the ongoing freeze on delimitation based on 1971 population figures.

Why Assembly Strength Varies Across States

Because strength is population-linked, larger states naturally return bigger assemblies while sparsely populated states sit near the constitutional floor. A few smaller states and Union Territories with a legislature depart from the general 60-member floor under special statutory dispensations — Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Goa have assemblies with a minimum of 30 members, Mizoram has a minimum of 40, and Nagaland a minimum of 46. These lower floors were fixed keeping in view the small population and distinct administrative history of these units at the time they attained statehood.

Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi

Delhi is a Union Territory but has its own directly elected Legislative Assembly under Article 239AA, inserted by the Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991. That amendment renamed the Union Territory of Delhi as the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, redesignated its Administrator as the Lieutenant Governor, and created a Legislative Assembly whose seats are filled by direct election from territorial constituencies within the NCT, with a Council of Ministers headed by a Chief Minister answerable to that Assembly. Parliament, not Article 170, regulates the total number of seats, the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, and the division of the NCT into constituencies. The Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023 later inserted provisions reserving seats for women in the Delhi Assembly, along with a sub-reservation of about one-third of the Scheduled Caste seats for women, with effect from 16 April 2026.

Reservation of Seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

The Constitution provides for reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of each state in proportion to their population, mirroring the scheme for the Lok Sabha. This reservation was originally meant to operate for ten years from commencement, but Parliament has repeatedly extended it in ten-year instalments; under the current extension it is to continue until 2030.

How the Assembly Differs From the Legislative Council

Where a state has a Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) under Article 171, the two Houses are composed very differently. The Assembly is wholly and directly elected by the people of the state; the Council's strength is capped at not more than one-third of the Assembly's strength and not less than 40, and it is composed through a mix of indirect election and nomination by the Governor rather than direct election. This structural gap is what gives the Assembly its primacy in state legislative business, including exclusive control over Money Bills and confidence in the Council of Ministers.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• Numerical limits under Article 170: minimum 60, maximum 500 members.
• States with a statutory minimum below 60: Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Goa (30), Mizoram (40), Nagaland (46).
• Article 239AA and the 69th Amendment, 1991 creating the Delhi Legislative Assembly.
• Constitutional basis of SC/ST reservation in state assemblies and its current extension till 2030.

Mains

• Compare the compositional logic of the Legislative Assembly (Article 170) with the Legislative Council (Article 171) and its bearing on the primacy of the Assembly in state governance.
• Examine how the sui generis status of the Delhi NCT Assembly under Article 239AA differs from a full state Legislative Assembly under Article 170.

FAQ

Q1. What is the minimum and maximum strength of a state Legislative Assembly under Article 170? A state Legislative Assembly must have not less than 60 and not more than 500 members, chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies.

Q2. Are all state assemblies subject to the 60-member floor? No. Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Goa have a statutory minimum of 30 members, Mizoram has 40, and Nagaland has 46, reflecting their smaller populations.

Q3. How is the Delhi Legislative Assembly different from a regular state Assembly? Delhi's Assembly exists under Article 239AA (inserted by the 69th Amendment, 1991) rather than Article 170, and Parliament — not the state itself — regulates its total seats, SC reservation, and constituency delimitation.

Q4. On what basis are seats reserved for SC/ST in the Legislative Assembly? Seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to their population in the state, a reservation periodically extended by Parliament and currently continuing until 2030.

Q5. How does the composition of the Assembly differ from that of the Legislative Council? The Assembly is fully and directly elected; the Council, capped between 40 members and one-third of the Assembly's strength, is composed mainly through indirect election with a nominated component.

Quick Revision

• Article 170: Legislative Assembly strength between 60 and 500, directly elected from territorial constituencies.
• Delimitation keeps the population-to-seat ratio roughly uniform across constituencies in a state.
• Lower statutory minimums: Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Goa (30); Mizoram (40); Nagaland (46).
• Delhi's Legislative Assembly rests on Article 239AA (69th Amendment, 1991), not Article 170.
• 106th Amendment, 2023 reserves seats for women in the Delhi Assembly, effective 16 April 2026.
• SC/ST reservation of assembly seats currently extended until 2030.

Sources

• Constitution of India, Article 170 and Article 239AA — legislative.gov.in
• Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991 — legislative.gov.in
• Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023 — legislative.gov.in

Further Reference

For deeper reading on this topic and the wider polity syllabus, these standard works are recommended:

• Indian Polity — M. Laxmikanth — the standard UPSC handbook.
• Introduction to the Constitution of India — D.D. Basu — authoritative constitutional-law treatment.
• The Constitution of India — Bare Act — the official text.