Chief Minister, State Council of Ministers and State Legislature

The Chief Minister

The Chief Minister is the real executive head of the state – the counterpart of the Prime Minister. Article 164 says the CM is appointed by the Governor; by convention, the Governor appoints the leader of the majority party in the legislative assembly. When no party has a majority, the Governor may use discretion and ask the appointee to prove majority on the floor of the House within a specified time. A person who is not a member of the legislature can be appointed CM for six months, within which they must be elected. The CM can be from the legislative council too (in states that have one). The oath is administered by the Governor.

Powers and functions: recommends ministers to the Governor and allocates portfolios; can ask a minister to resign; presides over meetings of the Council of Ministers; is the principal channel of communication between the Governor and the Council (Article 167 – communicates decisions, furnishes information the Governor calls for, and submits for the Council's consideration any matter decided by an individual minister if the Governor so requires); advises the Governor on summoning and proroguing sessions and on dissolving the assembly; is the leader of the House; and is a member of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog, the Inter-State Council and the relevant Zonal Council.

State Council of Ministers

• Article 163: a Council of Ministers headed by the CM to aid and advise the Governor (except in discretionary matters).
• Article 164: ministers are appointed by the Governor on the CM's advice and hold office during the Governor's pleasure; the Council is collectively responsible to the legislative assembly. The 91st Amendment (2003) capped the number of ministers, including the CM, at 15% of the assembly's total strength, with a minimum of 12; and barred defectors disqualified under the Tenth Schedule from being ministers until re-elected.
• In Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, a minister in charge of tribal welfare is required, who may also look after SCs, backward classes and other matters.
• Ministers who are not members must become members within six months.

The state cabinet, cabinet committees and the kitchen cabinet operate in the same way as at the Centre.

State legislature

Unicameral or bicameral: Most states have a single House – the legislative assembly (Vidhan Sabha). Six states have a second House, the legislative council (Vidhan Parishad): Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka. The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council was abolished in 2019 with the reorganisation.

Creation or abolition of a council (Article 169): Parliament can create or abolish a legislative council if the state legislative assembly passes a resolution by a special majority (majority of the total membership and two-thirds of those present and voting). Parliament then passes a law by simple majority, and the law is not a constitutional amendment under Article 368. Parliament is not bound to act on the resolution. Examples: Andhra Pradesh's council was abolished in 1985 and revived in 2007; Tamil Nadu's was abolished in 1986, and a 2010 law to revive it was not implemented. Andhra Pradesh's 2020 resolution to abolish its council again was withdrawn in 2021.

Composition of the legislative assembly: directly elected members, between 60 and 500 (exceptions by law: Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Goa and Mizoram have fewer, e.g. Sikkim 32). The Governor's power to nominate an Anglo-Indian member ended in 2020 (104th Amendment). Seats are reserved for SCs and STs in proportion to population, and one-third will be reserved for women after delimitation under the 106th Amendment (2023).

Composition of the legislative council: maximum one-third of the total strength of the assembly, minimum 40 members. Members are chosen as follows:

• one-third elected by members of local bodies (municipalities, district boards etc.);
• one-twelfth elected by graduates of three years' standing residing in the state;
• one-twelfth elected by teachers of three years' standing in institutions not lower than secondary school;
• one-third elected by members of the legislative assembly from among persons who are not MLAs;
• one-sixth nominated by the Governor from persons with special knowledge in literature, science, art, co-operative movement and social service.

Thus five-sixths are indirectly elected and one-sixth nominated, by proportional representation through single transferable vote. The council is a permanent body; one-third of members retire every second year; a member's term is six years.

Qualifications: citizen; 25 years for the assembly and 30 years for the council; other qualifications under the RPA, 1951 (e.g. an MLC to be elected by local bodies, graduates or teachers must be an elector for an assembly constituency in that state; a nominated MLC must be ordinarily resident in the state).

Presiding officers: the assembly elects a Speaker and Deputy Speaker; the council elects a Chairman and Deputy Chairman from among its members (unlike the Rajya Sabha, where the Vice-President is ex-officio Chairman). Their powers mirror those at the Centre, including the Speaker's final certificate on money bills and decisions on defection (subject to judicial review). In Subhash Desai (2023) the Supreme Court held that the Speaker must decide disqualification petitions within a reasonable time, and later fixed deadlines in specific cases.

Legislative procedure – position of the council

The legislative council is much weaker than the Rajya Sabha:

• Ordinary bills: if the council rejects a bill passed by the assembly, proposes amendments the assembly does not accept, or does not act for three months, the assembly may pass it again; the council can then delay it only for one more month. So the council can delay a bill for a maximum of four months (three months + one month). There is no joint sitting mechanism in states – the assembly prevails.
• Bills originating in the council and rejected by the assembly simply end.
• Money bills: only in the assembly; the council must return them within 14 days, with or without recommendations, which the assembly may reject.
• The council has no role in electing the President or the Rajya Sabha members of the state, in ratifying constitutional amendments, or in no-confidence motions.

The council's case: it gives representation to graduates, teachers and local bodies, allows revision of hasty legislation and accommodates experienced persons. Against it: it is costly, can be used to accommodate defeated politicians, and can delay but not stop legislation.

Practice: Mains question

*"Legislative councils are neither a check nor a necessity." Critically examine the debate on bicameralism in states. (150 words)* Points: Article 169 procedure; weaker powers; arguments for and against; examples of abolition and revival; and suggestions such as a uniform national policy on councils, as recommended by a parliamentary standing committee in 2013.

Common traps

• Six states have councils: AP, Telangana, UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka.
• Council creation/abolition: assembly's special-majority resolution + Parliament's ordinary law; not an Article 368 amendment.
• Council can delay ordinary bills for at most four months; no joint sitting in states.
• Council members: 1/3 local bodies, 1/12 graduates, 1/12 teachers, 1/3 MLAs, 1/6 nominated.