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The Vidhan Sabha the Legislative Assembly is the lower house (in states with bicameral) or the sole house (in unicameral states) of the state legislature in the different states of India.^[1] The same name is also used for the lower house of the legislatures for two of the Union Territories, Delhi and Puducherry.^{[citation needed]} The upper house in the seven states^{[citation needed]} with a bicameral legislature is called the Legislative Council, or Vidhan Parishad. Members of a Vidhan Sabha are direct representatives of the people of the particular state as they are directly elected by an electorate consisting of all citizens above the age of 18 of that state. Its maximum size as outlined in the Constitution of India is not more than 500 members and not fewer than 60 members. However, the size of the Vidhan Sabha can be fewer than 59 members through an Act of Parliament: such is the case in the states of Goa, Sikkim, Mizoram and the Union Territory of Puducherry. In some states the Governor may appoint 1 member to Governors) to Vidhan Sabha are referred to as Members of Legislative Assembly or MLAs. Each Vidhan Sabha assembles for a five-year term, after which all seats are up for election. During a state of emergency, its term may be extended past five years or it may be dissolved. The term of the Legislative Assembly is five years. But it may be dissolved even earlier than five years by the Governor on the request of the Chief Minister. The term of a Legislative Assembly may be extended during an Emergency, but not by more than six months at a time. A Vidhan Sabha can also be dissolved if a motion of no confidence is passed within it against the majority party or coalition.

Qualifications required to become a member[edit]

To become a member of a Vidhan Sabha, a person must be a citizen of India, not less than 25 years of age. He or she should be mentally sound and should not be bankrupt. He or she should also state an affidavit that there are no criminal procedures against him or her. Speaker of Vidhan Sabha who is responsible for the conduct of business of the body, and also a Deputy Speaker to preside during the Speaker's absence. The Speaker acts as a neutral judge and manages all debates and discussions in the house. Usually he or she is a member of the stronger political party

A Vidhan Sabha holds equal legislative power with the upper house of state legislature, the Vidhan Parishad ('Legislative Council'), except in the area of money bills in which case the Vidhan Sabha has the ultimate authority.

Special powers of the Vidhan Sabha[edit]

A motion of no confidence against the government in the state can only be introduced in the Vidhan Sabha. If it is passed by a majority vote, then the Chief Minister and his Council of Ministers must collectively resign.

A money bill can only be introduced in Vidhan Sabha. In bicameral jurisdictions, after it is passed in the Vidhan Sabha, it is sent to the Vidhan Parishad, where it can be kept for a maximum time of 14 days.

In matters related to ordinary bills, the will of Legislative Assembly prevails and there is no provision of joint sitting. In such cases, Legislative council can delay the legislation by maximum 4 months (3 months in first visit and 1 month in the second visit of the bill).

List of Vidhan Sabhas[edit]

Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly)	Image	List of constituencies	Location/state capital	Number of Constituency	Governing party
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly	Amaravathi	175	Telugu Desam Party
Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly	Itanagar	60	Bharatiya Janata Party
Assam Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Assam Legislative Assembly	Dispur	126	Bharatiya Janata Party
Bihar Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Bihar Legislative Assembly	Patna	243	Janata Dal (United)
Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly	Naya Raipur	90	Bharatiya Janata Party
Delhi Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Delhi Legislative Assembly	New Delhi	70	Aam Aadmi Party
Goa Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Goa Legislative Assembly	Panaji	40	Bharatiya Janata Party
Gujarat Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Gujarat Legislative Assembly	Gandhinagar	182	Bharatiya Janata Party
Haryana Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Haryana Legislative Assembly	Chandigarh	90	Bharatiya Janata Party
Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly	Shimla	68	Bharatiya Janata Party
Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly	Srinagar	87	Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party
Jharkhand Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly	Ranchi	81	Bharatiya Janata Party
Karnataka Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Karnataka Legislative Assembly	Bengaluru	224	Janata Dal (Secular)
Kerala Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Kerala Legislative Assembly	Thiruvananthapuram	140	Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly	Bhopal	230	Bharatiya Janata Party
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly	Mumbai Nagpur (Winter)	288	Bharatiya Janata Party
Manipur Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Manipur Legislative Assembly	Imphal	60	Bharatiya Janata Party
Meghalaya Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Meghalaya Legislative Assembly	Shillong	60	National People's Party
Mizoram Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Mizoram Legislative Assembly	Aizawl	40	Indian National Congress
Nagaland Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Nagaland Legislative Assembly	Kohima	60	Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party
Odisha Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Odisha Legislative Assembly	Bhubaneshwar	147	Biju Janata Dal
Puducherry Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Puducherry Legislative Assembly	Pondicherry	30	Indian National Congress
Punjab Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Punjab Legislative Assembly	Chandigarh	117	Indian National Congress
Rajasthan Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly	Jaipur	200	Bharatiya Janata Party
Sikkim Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Sikkim Legislative Assembly	Gangtok	32	Sikkim Democratic Front
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly	Chennai	234	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Telangana Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Telangana Legislative Assembly	Hyderabad	119	Telangana Rashtra Samithi
Tripura Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Tripura Legislative Assembly	Agartala	60	Bharatiya Janata Party
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly	Lucknow	403	Bharatiya Janata Party
Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly	Dehradun	70	Bharatiya Janata Party
West Bengal Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Kolkata	294	All India Trinamool Congress
Total		—	—	4120[2]	—

See also[edit]

• Politics of India


• State Assembly elections in India


• Vidhan Parishad

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• 
  Legislative Bodies in India website


• 
  Assembly constituency level publications website


• 
  Laws of India website to download laws made by different states


• Punjab Vidhan Sabha Election Results 2012