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The Vidhan Sabha or the State Legislative Assembly is a house of a state legislature in the States and Union Territories of India. In the 29 states and 2 union territories with a unicameral state legislature it is the sole legislative house. In 7 states it is the lower house of their bicameral state legislatures with the upper house being Vidhan Parishad or the State Legislative Council. 5 Union Territories are governed directly by the Union Government and have no legislative body. Members of a Vidhan Sabha are referred to as MLAs and are directly elected to serve 5 year terms by single-member constituencies. In 14 states the Governor of a state may appoint one Anglo-Indian MLA to their respective states Vidhan Sabha in accordance with the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution of India. The Constitution of India states that a Vidhan Sabha must have no less than 60 and no more than 500 members however an exception may be granted via an Act of Parliament as is the case in the states of Goa, Sikkim, Mizoram and the union territory of Puducherry which have fewer than 60 members. A Vidhan Sabha may be dissolved in a state of emergency, by the Governor on request of the Chief Minister, or if a motion of no confidence is passed against the majority coalition^[1].

Qualifications required to become a member

To become a member of a State Legislative Assembly, 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 State Legislative Assembly 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 State Legislative Assembly holds equal legislative power with the upper house of state legislature, the State Legislative Council, except in the area of money bills in which case the State Legislative Assembly has the ultimate authority.

Special powers of the State Legislative Assembly

A motion of no confidence against the government in the state can only be introduced in the State Legislative Assembly. 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 State Legislative Assembly. In bicameral jurisdictions, after it is passed in the State Legislative Assembly, 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 State Legislative Assemblies

State Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha)	Image	List of constituencies	Location/state capital	Number of constituencies	Governing party
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly	Amaravati	176†	Telugu Desam Party
Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly	Itanagar	60	Bharatiya Janata Party
Assam Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Assam Legislative Assembly	Dispur	126	Bharatiya Janata Party
Bihar Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Bihar Legislative Assembly	Patna	244†	Janata Dal (United)
Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly	Atal Nagar	91†	Indian National Congress
Delhi Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Delhi Legislative Assembly	New Delhi	70	Aam Aadmi Party
Goa Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Goa Legislative Assembly	Panaji	40	Bharatiya Janata Party
Gujarat Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly	Gandhinagar	183†	Bharatiya Janata Party
Haryana Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Haryana Legislative Assembly	Chandigarh	90	Bharatiya Janata Party
Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly	Shimla	68	Bharatiya Janata Party
Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly	Srinagar	89‡	None (President's rule)
Jharkhand Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Jharkhand Legislative Assembly	Ranchi	82†	Bharatiya Janata Party
Karnataka Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly	Bangalore	225†	Janata Dal (Secular)
Kerala Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Kerala Legislative Assembly	Thiruvananthapuram	141†	Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly	Bhopal	231†	Indian National Congress
Maharashtra Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly	Mumbai Nagpur (Winter)	289†	Bharatiya Janata Party
Manipur Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Manipur Legislative Assembly	Imphal	60	Bharatiya Janata Party
Meghalaya Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly	Shillong	60	National People's Party
Mizoram Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Mizoram Legislative Assembly	Aizawl	40	Mizo National Front
Nagaland Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly	Kohima	60	Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party
Odisha Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Odisha Legislative Assembly	Bhubaneshwar	147	Biju Janata Dal
Puducherry Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Puducherry Legislative Assembly	Pondicherry	33#	Indian National Congress
Punjab Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Punjab Legislative Assembly	Chandigarh	117	Indian National Congress
Rajasthan Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly	Jaipur	200	Indian National Congress
Sikkim Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly	Gangtok	32	Sikkim Democratic Front
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly	Chennai	235†	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
Telangana Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Telangana Legislative Assembly	Hyderabad	120†	Telangana Rashtra Samithi
Tripura Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Tripura Legislative Assembly	Agartala	60	Bharatiya Janata Party
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly	Lucknow	404†	Bharatiya Janata Party
Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly	Dehradun	71†	Bharatiya Janata Party
West Bengal Legislative Assembly		List of constituencies of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly	Kolkata	295†	All India Trinamool Congress
Total		—	—	4139[2]	—

Notes

• 
  ^† – In these fourteen legislative assemblies, one seat is reserved for the nominated Anglo-Indian member.


• 
  ^‡ – In Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, two seats are reserved for the nominated women members.


• 
  ^# – In Puducherry Legislative Assembly, three seats are reserved for the nominated members by the Union Government of India.

See also

• Legislative assembly


• Legislative council


• Politics of India


• State Assembly elections in India

References

External links

• 
  Legislative Bodies in India website


• 
  Assembly constituency level publications website


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


• Punjab State Legislative Assembly Election Results 2012