State Government (Chief Minister, Legislative Council & Legislative Assembly)

State Government

State governments in India are the governments ruling States of India, and the head of the council of ministers in a state is chief minister. Power is divided between central government and state governments. Power is divided between central government and state governments. While central government handles military, external affairs etc., the state government deals with internal security (through state police ), and other state issues.

Chief Minister

The Chief Minister is the real head of the State Executive.
He is appointed by the Governor of that state.
The Council Ministers are also appointed by the Governor with the consultation of the Chief Minister.
The minister must become a member of the state Legislature through election within six months from the date of his appointment.
Role of a Chief Minister is analogous to that of Prime Minister at the centre. If a CM resigns all other ministers also resign.
The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State and individually responsible to the Governor.
The relation between the Governor and the State Council Ministers is same as that of the President and the Centre Council Minister.

State Legislature

The Indian State Legislatures are Unicameral and in some states it is Bicameral.
As of 2014, seven (out of twenty-nine) states have a Legislative Council: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana.

Legislative Council

The Legislative Council (or Vidhan Parishad) is the upper house in those states of India that have a bicameral legislature.
Legislative Councils in states have same role to that of the Rajya Sabha in centre.
Its Strength cannot exceed 1/3rd of the strength of the Legislative assembly and also cannot be less than 40 (except in Jammu and Kashmir, where there are 36 by an Act of Parliament.)
The abolition and creation of Legislative Council depends upon the Legislative Assembly of the State. If the bill is passed by the 2/3rd majority of the present members then the Parliament may approve the resolution by a simple majority. So, finally this approval rests with the Parliament.

Term

Term of Legislative Council is 6 years. However 1/3rd members retire every 2 years.
Legislative Council is a permanent body and cannot be dissolved.

Qualification

Must be a citizen of India.

Must be at least 30 years old.

Must not hold any office of profit.

He should be mentally sound, not an insolvent.

Must be registered as a voter from any constituency of the state.

He or she may not be a Member of Parliament at the same time.

Election

1/3rd members of the Legislative Council are elected by the local bodies such as municipalities, corporations, District Boards etc.

1/3rd is elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly.

1/12th is elected by those Graduates who have completed their Graduation at least 3 years before this election and standing residing in that state.

Another 1/12th is elected by those teachers who have teaching experience of not less than 3 years in secondary schools or higher institutions.

1/6th is nominated from persons having knowledge or practical experience in fields of literature, science or social service by the Governor of that state.

Legislative Assembly

The Legislative Assembly (or Vidhan Sabha) is the lower house of the State Legislature.
Its role is same to that of the Lok Sabha in the centre.
Its maximum strength is 500 and minimum strength is 60. However the strength of the Legislative Assembly of the Sikkim is 32. Actually it depends upon the population of the state. States which have small population and are small in size have a provision for having even lesser number of members in the Legislative Assembly.

Term

Its total term is 5 years. It is not a permanent body.

It can be dissolved by the Governor earlier than its term.

Its term can be extended to one year by the President with the consultation of the Parliament at the time of Emergency.

Qualification

Same as that of the Legislative Council except that the members must not be less than 25 years old.

Powers

The most important function of the Legislature is law making.

It legislates on the subjects listed in the state list as well as Concurrent list.

The State Legislature besides making laws also has one electoral power in electing the President of India.

Some parts of the Constitution can be amended by Parliament with the approval of half of State Legislatures.

Presiding Officers in State Legislatures

Similar to the Presiding officers of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council also have Presiding Officers. The Legislative Assembly has a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker and the Legislative Council has a Chairman and a Deputy Chairman. They are elected from among the members of the House.