Composition of the Legislative Council

Vidhan Parishad composition is governed by Article 171 of the Constitution, which sets up the Legislative Council as a smaller, largely indirectly elected upper House found only in states that have chosen to retain or create one. Under Article 168, a state's legislature consists of the Governor and either one House (the Legislative Assembly alone) or two Houses (the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council). The Council's composition — capped in size and built mainly through indirect election and nomination rather than direct election — was deliberately designed to keep it subordinate to the directly elected Assembly.

Article 171: Strength of the Council

Article 171(1) provides that the total membership of a state's Legislative Council shall not exceed one-third of the total membership of that state's Legislative Assembly, and shall in no case be less than 40. This means a Council's size is tied to, and always smaller than, its Assembly — a state cannot have a Council larger than one-third of its Assembly, however big that Assembly may be. Within these outer limits, the actual strength of each Council is fixed by Parliament.

How the Council Is Composed

Under Article 171(3), until Parliament legislates otherwise, the membership of a Legislative Council is drawn from five distinct sources:

The indirectly elected members are chosen by proportional representation through the single transferable vote, in line with the pattern used for the Rajya Sabha. This scheme laid down in the Constitution is expressly tentative: Article 171(2) empowers Parliament to modify or replace it by law, though Parliament has not so far enacted any such general law, so the original constitutional scheme continues to apply.

Which States Have a Legislative Council

Bicameralism at the state level is optional, not universal. Article 168 lists which states have two Houses, and Article 169 allows Parliament, on a resolution of the concerned state Assembly passed by a special majority, to create or abolish a Legislative Council by ordinary law. Using this route, Andhra Pradesh set up a Council in 1957, abolished it in 1985, and later revived it through the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council Act, 2005. Punjab and West Bengal abolished their Councils in 1969, and Tamil Nadu abolished its Council in 1986. Tamil Nadu later passed a resolution for revival in 2010, and Parliament duly enacted the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Act, 2010 — but before that Act could be brought into force, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a fresh resolution in 2011 seeking its abolition, and the proposed Council never came into being. This history illustrates how Article 169 makes the Council's very existence subject to the will of the elected Assembly.

Permanence and Composition Compared With the Assembly

Unlike the Legislative Assembly, which is not a continuing chamber and is fully renewed at each general election, the Legislative Council under Article 172 is not subject to dissolution at all — it is a permanent body, with as nearly as possible one-third of its members retiring on the expiry of every second year, similar in principle to the Rajya Sabha. This permanence, combined with a composition that is mostly indirect and partly nominated rather than a direct mandate from the electorate, is central to why the Council functions as a revising chamber rather than a coordinate power centre: it can delay and recommend changes to ordinary legislation but cannot hold up Money Bills or unseat the Council of Ministers, which remains answerable only to the Assembly.

UPSC Relevance

Prelims

• Numerical limits under Article 171: minimum 40, maximum one-third of Assembly strength.
• The five sources of Council membership and their approximate shares (1/3, 1/12, 1/12, 1/3, 1/6).
• States currently with a Legislative Council, and the Article 169 procedure for creating or abolishing one.
• Governor's power to nominate about one-sixth of Council members.

Mains

• Examine why the framers deliberately gave the Legislative Council a composition weaker than the Assembly's, and evaluate whether this subordination undermines its purpose as a revising chamber.
• Discuss the Article 169 procedure for creation and abolition of Legislative Councils with reference to state experience (Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, West Bengal).

FAQ

Q1. What is the maximum and minimum strength of a state Legislative Council? Under Article 171(1), a Legislative Council cannot exceed one-third of the strength of the state's Legislative Assembly, and cannot be less than 40 members.

Q2. How are members of the Legislative Council chosen? About one-third are elected by local bodies, one-twelfth by graduates, one-twelfth by teachers, one-third by MLAs (from non-members), and the remaining one-sixth are nominated by the Governor for special knowledge or experience in fields such as literature, science, art, the cooperative movement, or social service.

Q3. Can Parliament change this composition scheme? Yes. Article 171(2) allows Parliament to modify or replace the scheme by law, but Parliament has not enacted such a general law so far, so the constitutional scheme in Article 171(3) continues to operate.

Q4. Is the Legislative Council a permanent body like the Rajya Sabha? Yes. Under Article 172, the Council is not subject to dissolution; roughly one-third of its members retire every two years.

Q5. How is a Legislative Council created or abolished? Under Article 169, Parliament may create or abolish a state's Legislative Council by ordinary law, but only after the state's Legislative Assembly passes a resolution to that effect by a special majority.

Quick Revision

• Article 171: Council strength capped at one-third of Assembly strength, floor of 40 members.
• Composition: 1/3 local bodies, 1/12 graduates, 1/12 teachers, 1/3 MLAs' nominees, 1/6 Governor-nominated.
• Indirectly elected members chosen by proportional representation, single transferable vote.
• Article 171(2): Parliament may alter the scheme by law; it has not done so yet.
• Article 169: Parliament creates or abolishes a Council on the Assembly's special-majority resolution.
• Article 172: Council is a permanent body, not subject to dissolution; one-third retire every two years.

Sources

• Constitution of India, Article 171, Article 168, Article 169 and Article 172 — legislative.gov.in
• Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council Act, 2005 and Tamil Nadu Legislative Council Act, 2010 — 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.