An Overview 

Article 168 of the Indian Constitution talks about the Legislative Structure of the States of Indian Territory.  

It talks about how the legislature in the states would look and how different states would have a different structure of the legislature based on some defined parameters for all the states. 

Let us dive deep into Article 168 of the Indian Constitution, but before that, we will get familiar with the terms and definitions that are pivotal to the aforementioned article. 

All the Articles from Article 153 of the Indian Constitution to Article 163 of the Indian Constitution mention all the aspects related to the lawful presence of the Governor in the State.  

 Here is the List of the all the Governors of the States of India 

Sl.No.	Name of the State	Name of the Governor
01.	Andhra Pradesh	Shri E.S.L.Narasimhan
02.	Arunachal Pradesh	Lt. General(Retd.) Nirbhay Sharma
03.	Assam	Shri J.B.Patnaik
04.	Bihar	Dr. D.Y.Patil
05.	Chhattisgarh	Shri Ram Naresh Yadav
06.	Goa	Shri Bharat Vir Wanchoo
07.	Gujarat	Dr. (Smt.) Kamla
08.	Haryana	Shri Jagannath Pahadia
09.	Himachal Pradesh	Smt. Urmila Singh
10.	Jammu & Kashmir	Shri Narinder Nath Vohra
11.	Jharkhand	Dr. Syed Ahmed
12.	Karnataka	Shri K. Rosaiah
13.	Kerala	Smt. Sheila Dikshit
14.	Madhya Pradesh	Shri Ram Naresh Yadav
15.	Maharashtra	Shri K.Shankaranarayanan
16.	Manipur	Shri Vinod Kumar Duggal
17.	Meghalaya	Dr. Krishan Kant Paul
18.	Mizoram	Shri. Vakkom Purushothaman
19.	Nagaland	Dr. Krishan Kant Paul
20.	Orissa	Shri S.C.Jamir
21.	Punjab	Shri Shivraj V.Patil
22.	Rajasthan	Smt. Margaret Alva
23.	Sikkim	Shri Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil
24.	Tamil Nadu	Shri K. Rosaiah
25.	Telangana	Shri E.S.L.Narasimhan
26.	Tripura	Shri Vakkom Purushothaman
27.	Uttarakhand	Dr. Aziz Qureshi
28.	Uttar Pradesh	Dr. Aziz Qureshi
29.	West Bengal	Dr. Syed Ahmed

Legislative Council 

The Legislative Council is the name given to the upper chamber of the State Legislature.
The state legislative assembly, as well as other local authorities and organisations, are responsible for electing members of the Legislative Council. The members of the Legislative Council are selected using a process known as indirect election.

The Legislative Council is made up of people who are chosen to serve six-year terms that are spread out over time.

The Chairman of the Legislative Council serves as the body’s presiding official.
In order to be eligible for membership in the Legislative Council, one must be at least 30 years old.

In India, the Legislative Council is only present in six of the country’s states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Telangana, along with Uttar Pradesh.
It is recommended that there be a total of three times as many people on this committee as there are total members of the Legislative Assembly. The number of participants must be at least forty and cannot be lower.

Related Articles

Features Of The Legislative Council 

• The Legislative Council is the name given to the upper chamber of the State Legislature.
• The state legislative assembly, as well as other local authorities and organisations, are responsible for electing members of the Legislative Council. The members of the Legislative Council are selected using a process known as indirect election.
• Members of the Legislative Council are chosen to serve staggered terms of six years each.
• The Chairman of the Legislative Council serves as the presiding officer of the body.
• In order to be eligible for membership in the Legislative Council, one must be at least 30 years old.
• In India, the Legislative Council is only present in six of the country’s states: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Telangana, along with Uttar Pradesh.
• It is recommended that there be a total of three times as many people on this committee as there are total members of the Legislative Assembly. The number of participants must be at least forty and cannot be lower.

What Is The Legislative Assembly?

The State Legislative Assembly, often known as the Vidhan Sabha is a legislative body that is present in each of India’s states and union territories.

It functions as the only legislative body in the 28 states and 3 union territories that have a unicameral state legislature, while in the 6 states that have bicameral state legislatures, it serves as the lower house of those legislatures and the State Legislative Council functions as the upper house.

There is no separate legislature for the five union territories, which are instead ruled directly by the central government of India.

Features Of The Legislative Assembly?

• The Legislative Assembly is the name given to the assembly that sits in the lower chamber of the state legislature.
• Members of the Legislative Assembly are selected via a process known as direct election.
• Members of the Legislative Assembly are chosen for a period of five years by the people in a direct election. The term of office for Legislative Assembly members is five years.
• The role of the Speaker in the Legislative Assembly is that of the presiding officer.
• The Legislative Assembly requires prospective members to be at least 25 years old.
• The Legislative Assembly is present in each of India’s states.
• The sitting has a maximum of 500 members, and at the very least, 60 members.

Article 168 Of The Indian Constitution – In Detail 

We will understand Article 168 of the Indian Constitution in detail by analysing each and every clause present in it. 

Clause 1 – As it is & Explained 

168. Constitution of Legislatures in States

(1) For every State there shall be a Legislature which shall consist of the Governor, and

(a) in the States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, two houses:

(b) in other States, one House

The first clause of Article 168 of the Indian Constitution says that there will be a Legislature in each and every State of the Indian Territory. 

The Legislature will consist of the Governor and in some States two Houses of the Legislature. Some of these States as specified are Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. 

Rest all the States that are not in the above list will have only one House of the State Legislature. 

Clause 2 – As it is & Explained 

(2) Where there are two Houses of the Legislature of a State, one shall be known as the Legislative Council and the other as the Legislative Assembly, and where there is only one House, it shall be known as the Legislative Assembly

In the second part of Article 168 of the Indian Constitution, the Legislature of the State is described. 

It says that one of them should be called as Legislative Assembly while the other one shall be called as the Legislative Council. 

Also, in those States where there will be only one House of the Legislature, in those particular States, the House will be known as the Legislative Assembly. 

Summing Up

We can conclude from Article 168 of the Indian Constitution that the structure of the State Legislature is very similar to that of the Legislature in the Union government. 

The Governor, as well as the Upper and Lower Houses of the State Legislature, are analogous to the President, the Lok Sabha, and the Rajya Sabha of India. 

This structure ensures the smooth functioning and efficient working of the Legislature both at the Union and the State level. 

Every state has it’s own legislative, which is made up of the state’s governor and either one or two chambers, depending on the size of the state.

State/Union Territory	Legislature type	Size
Lower	Upper	Total
Andhra Pradesh	Bicameral	175	58	233
Arunachal Pradesh	Unicameral	60	—	60
Assam	Unicameral	126	—	126
Bihar	Bicameral	243	75	318
Chhattisgarh	Unicameral	90	—	90
Delhi	Unicameral	70	—	70
Goa	Unicameral	40	—	40
Gujarat	Unicameral	182	—	182
Haryana	Unicameral	90	—	90
Himachal Pradesh	Unicameral	68	—	68
Jammu and Kashmir	Unicameral	90	—	90
Jharkhand	Unicameral	81	—	81
Karnataka	Bicameral	224	75	299
Kerala	Unicameral	140	—	140
Madhya Pradesh	Unicameral	230	—	230
Maharashtra	Bicameral	288	78	366
Manipur	Unicameral	60	—	60
Meghalaya	Unicameral	60	—	60
Mizoram	Unicameral	40	—	40
Nagaland	Unicameral	60	—	60
Odisha	Unicameral	147	—	147
Puducherry	Unicameral	33[a]	—	33
Punjab	Unicameral	117	—	117
Rajasthan	Unicameral	200	—	200
Sikkim	Unicameral	32	—	32
Tamil Nadu	Unicameral	234	—	234
Telangana	Bicameral	119	40	159
Tripura	Unicameral	60	—	60
Uttar Pradesh	Bicameral	403	100	503
Uttarakhand	Unicameral	70	—	70
West Bengal	Unicameral	294	—	294
Total	—	4,126	426	4,547

FAQs