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Member of the Legislative Assembly
Member of the Legislative Assembly
	Legislative Assembly
Abbreviation	MLA
Member of	Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly; Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly; Assam Legislative Assembly; Bihar Legislative Assembly; Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly; Delhi Legislative Assembly; Goa Legislative Assembly; Gujarat Legislative Assembly; Haryana Legislative Assembly; Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly; Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly; Jharkhand Legislative Assembly; Karnataka Legislative Assembly; Kerala Legislative Assembly; Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly; Maharashtra Legislative Assembly; Manipur Legislative Assembly; Meghalaya Legislative Assembly; Mizoram Legislative Assembly; Nagaland Legislative Assembly; Odisha Legislative Assembly; Puducherry Legislative Assembly; Punjab Legislative Assembly; Rajasthan Legislative Assembly; Sikkim Legislative Assembly; Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly; Telangana Legislative Assembly; Tripura Legislative Assembly; Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly; Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly; West Bengal Legislative Assembly;
Reports to	Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Respective Legislative Assemblies of India
Nominator	Elected By Voting
Term length	5 Years
Inaugural holder	1952 State Legislative Assembly
Formation	1952 (72 years ago)

A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district (constituency) to the legislature of State government in the Indian system of government. From each constituency, the people elect one representative who then becomes a member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA). Each state has between seven and nine MLAs for every Member of Parliament (MP) that it has in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's bicameral parliament. There are also members in three unicameral legislatures in Union Territories: the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the Puducherry Legislative Assembly. Only a Member of the Legislative Assembly can work as a minister for more than 6 months. If a non-Member of the Legislative Assembly becomes a Chief Minister or a minister, he must become an MLA within 6 months to continue in the job. Only a Member of the Legislative Assembly can become the Speaker of the Legislature.

Introduction

In states where there are two houses, there is a State Legislative Council, and a State Legislative Assembly. In such a case, the Legislative Council is the upper house, while the Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the state legislature.

The Governor shall not be a member of the Legislature or Parliament, shall not hold any office of profit, and shall be entitled to emoluments and allowances. (Article 158 of the Indian constitution).

The Legislative Assembly consists of not more than 500 members and not fewer than 60. The biggest state, Uttar Pradesh, has 403 members in its Assembly. States which have small populations and are small in size have a provision for having an even smaller number of members in the Legislative Assembly. Puducherry has 33 members out of which 3 are nominated by central government.^[1] Mizoram and Goa have only 40 members each. Sikkim has 32. All members of the Legislative Assembly are elected based on adult franchise, and one member is elected from one constituency. Until January 2020, the President had the power to nominate two Anglo Indians to the Lok Sabha and the Governor had the power to nominate one member^[2] from the Anglo Indian community deems fit if the governor thinks that they are not adequately represented in the Assembly. In January 2020, the Anglo-Indian reserved seats in the Parliament and State legislatures of India were abolished by the 104th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019.^[3]^[4]

Nominated MLAs in states and UTs

Up to three MLAs can be nominated in the union territory of Puducherry by the central government who enjoy equal powers as elected MLAs.^[1] Interestingly, as clarified by the Supreme court of India, these MLAs hold the same voting powers as the elected MLAs.^[5]

Between 1957 and 2019, before the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A of the Constitution of India, the former 89-member Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly had 2 seats reserved for the nominated women members. But after the passing of Women's Reservation Bill, 2023 it became 33%. Additionally, the Lieutenant Governor may nominate two representatives of Kashmiri migrant families to the assembly, one of which is reserved for woman.^[6]

Qualification

The qualifications to become a member of the Legislative Assembly are largely similar to the qualifications to be a member of Parliament.

The person should be a citizen of India.
Not less than 25 years of age^[7] to be a member of the Legislative Assembly and not less than 30 years (as per Article 173 of Indian Constitution) to be a member of the Legislative Council.
No person can become a member of the Legislative Assembly or the Legislative Council of any state unless the individual is a voter from any constituency of the state. Those who cannot become members of Parliament also cannot become members of the state legislature.
The person should not be convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment of 2 years or more.
Person must be sound of mind.

Term

The term of the Legislative Assembly is five years. However, it may be dissolved earlier than that by the Governor at the request of the Chief Minister, when the Chief Minister has actual majority support in the Assembly. The Assembly may be dissolved earlier if no one can prove majority support and become Chief Minister. The term of the Legislative Assembly may be extended during an emergency,^[8] but not more than six months at a time. The Legislative Council is the upper house of the State. Just like the Rajya Sabha, it is a permanent House. The members of the state's upper house are selected based on the strength of each party in the lower house and by state gubernatorial nomination. The term is six years, and a third of the members of the House retire after every two years. The upper house of a state assembly, unlike the upper house of the Parliament, can be abolished by the lower house, if it passes a specific law bill, which states to dissolve the upper house, and gets it attested in both houses of parliament and then signed by the president into law. Only Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh have their upper houses in existence with a six-year term. All other states have abolished the upper house by the above-mentioned method, as the upper house causes unnecessary problems, expenditures and issues.^[9]

Powers

The most important function of the legislature is law-making. The state legislature has the power to make laws on all items on which Parliament cannot legislate. Some of these items are police, prisons, irrigation, agriculture, local governments, public health, pilgrimage, and burial grounds. Some topics on which both Parliament and states can make laws are education, marriage and divorce, forests, and the protection of wild animals and birds.

As regards money bills, the position is the same. Bills can originate only in the Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Council can either pass the bill within 14 days of the date of the receipt of the Bill or suggest changes to it within 14 days. These changes may or may not be accepted by the Assembly.

The state legislature, besides making laws, has one electoral power, in electing the President of India. Elected members of the Legislative Assembly along with the elected members of Parliament are involved in this process.

Some parts of the Constitution can be amended by Parliament with the approval of half of the state legislatures. Thus, the state legislatures take part in the process of amendment to the Constitution.

MLAs by States

Members of Legislative Assembly by their political party (As of 3 December 2024^[update])

State/UT	Total	Ruling Party		BJP	NDA		INC	INDIA		Others		Independent	NOM	Vacant
State/UT	Total	Ruling Party										Independent	NOM	Vacant
Andhra Pradesh	175		TDP	8		TDP (135)	None				YSRCP (11)
Andhra Pradesh	175		TDP	8		JSP (21)	None				YSRCP (11)
Arunachal Pradesh	60		BJP	46		NPP (5)	1	None		None
						NCP (3)
						PPA(2)
						IND(3)
Assam	126		BJP	64		AGP (8)	22		CPI(M) (1)		AIUDF(15)	2
						UPPL (7)			CPI(M) (1)		AIUDF(15)
						IND(3)			RD (1)		BPF(3)
Bihar	243		JD(U)	84		JD(U) (48)	17		RJD (72)		AIMIM (1)
						JD(U) (48)			CPI(ML)L(11)
						HAM(4)			CPI(M) (2)
						IND(2)			CPI (2)
Chhattisgarh	90		BJP	54	None		35	None			GGP (1)
Delhi	70		AAP	7	None		0		AAP(58)	None				5
Goa	40		BJP	28		MGP (2)	3		AAP (2)		RGP(1)
Goa	40		BJP	28		IND (3)	3		AAP (2)		GFP (1)
Gujarat	182		BJP	162		IND (2)	12		SP (1)		AAP (4)			1
Haryana	90		BJP	48		IND (3)	37	None			INLD (2)
Himachal Pradesh	68		INC	28	None		40	None		None
Jammu and Kashmir	95		JKNC	28	None		6		JKNC 41		JKPDP 3	1		7
									CPI(M) (1)		JKPDP 3
									AAP 1		JKPC 1
									IND(6)		JKPC 1
Jharkhand	81		JMM	21		AJSU(1)	16		JMM (34)		JLKM (1)
						JD(U) (1)			RJD (4)
						LJP(RV) (1)			CPI(ML)L (2)
Karnataka	224		INC	66		JD(S) (18)	138		IND(1)		SKP (1)
Kerala	140		CPI(M)	None		JD(S) (2)	21		CPI(M) (62)		DCK(1)			1
									CPI (17)		NSC (1)
									IUML (15)		JKC(1)
									KC(M) (5)		RMPI (1)
									NCP-SP (2)		Cong(S) (1)
									KEC (2)		INL (1)
									RJD (1)		KC(J) (1)
									IND(4)		KC(B) (1)
Madhya Pradesh	230		BJP	165	None		64	None			BAP(1)
Maharashtra	288		SHS	132		SS (57)	16		SS(UBT) (20)		AIMIM(1)	1
						NCP (41)			SS(UBT) (20)
						JSS (2)			NCP-SP (10)
						RSPS (1)			NCP-SP (10)
						RSVA(1)			SP (2)
						RYSP (1)			CPI(M) (1)
						IND (1)			PWPI (1)
Manipur	60		BJP	37		NPP (7)	5	None			KPA (2)
						NPF (5)
						JD(U) (1)
						IND(3)
Meghalaya	60		NPEP	2		NPP(32)	1		AITC (5)		VPP (4)
						UDP (12)
						HSPDP (2)
						IND(2)
Mizoram	40		ZPM	2	None		1	None			ZPM (27)
Mizoram	40		ZPM	2	None		1	None			MNF (10)
Nagaland	60		NDPP	12		NDPP (25)	None			None
						NCP (7)
						NPP (5)
						LJP(RV) (2)
						RPI(A) (2)
						NPF (2)
						IND(5)
Odisha	147		BJP	79	None		14		CPI(M) (1)		BJD (51)	2
Puducherry	33		AINRC	9		AINRC (10)	2		DMK (6)	None		6
Punjab	117		AAP	3	None		14		AAP (94)		SAD (3)	2
Punjab	117		AAP	3	None		14		AAP (94)		BSP (1)	2
Rajasthan	200		BJP	119		SS (2)	66	None			BAP (4)	2
						RLD (1)
						IND (6)
Sikkim	32		SKM	None		SKM(32)	None
Tamil Nadu	234		DMK	4		PMK(5)	18		DMK (133)		AIADMK(62)
						PMK(5)			VCK(4)
						IND(4)			CPI(M) (2)
						IND(4)			CPI (2)
Telangana	119		INC	8	None		75		CPI (1)		BRS (28)
Telangana	119		INC	8	None		75		CPI (1)		AIMIM (7)
Tripura	60		BJP	33		TMP (13)	3		CPI(M) (10)	None
Tripura	60		BJP	33		IPFT (1)	3		CPI(M) (10)	None
Uttar Pradesh	403		BJP	257		AD(S) (13)	2		SP (107)		JSD(L) (2)			1
						RLD (9)					JSD(L) (2)
						SBSP (6)					BSP (1)
						NISHAD (5)					BSP (1)
Uttarakhand	70		BJP	47		IND (2)	20	None			BSP(1)
West Bengal	294		AITC	66	None				AITC(225)		ISF(1)	1
West Bengal	294		AITC	66	None				BGPM (1)		ISF(1)	1
Total	4131			1619	599		649	973		259		17	0	15

MLAs by party affiliation

		MLAs
1	Bharatiya Janata Party	1619
2	Indian National Congress	649
3	All India Trinamool Congress	230
4	Aam Aadmi Party	159
5	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	139
6	Telugu Desam Party	135
7	Samajwadi Party	110
8	Communist Party of India (Marxist)	80
9	Rashtriya Janata Dal	77
10	Independent	66
11	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam	62
12	Shiv Sena	59
13	Biju Janata Dal	51
13	Nationalist Congress Party	51
15	Janata Dal (United)	50
16	National People's Party	48
17	Jammu and Kashmir National Conference	41
18	Sikkim Krantikari Morcha	32
19	Bharat Rashtra Samithi	28
20	Zoram People's Movement	27
21	Jharkhand Mukti Morcha	25
21	Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party	25
23	Communist Party of India	22
24	Jana Sena Party	21
25	Janata Dal (Secular)	20
26	Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)	20
27	All India United Democratic Front	15
27	Indian Union Muslim League	15
29	Apna Dal (Sonelal)	13
29	Tipra Motha Party	13
31	Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation	12
	Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar)	12
	United Democratic Party	12
34	YSR Congress Party	11
35	All India N.R. Congress	10
35	Mizo National Front	10
37	All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen	9
37	Rashtriya Lok Dal	9
39	Asom Gana Parishad	7
39	Naga People's Front	7
41	Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party	6
41	United People's Party Liberal	6
43	Bharat Adivasi Party	5
	Kerala Congress (M)	5
	NISHAD Party	5
	Pattali Makkal Katchi	5
47	Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)	4
	Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi	4
	Voice of the People Party	4
50	Bahujan Samaj Party	3
	Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi	3
	Bodoland People's Front	3
	Hindustani Awam Morcha	3
	Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party	3
	Shiromani Akali Dal	3
56	Hill State People's Democratic Party	2
	Indian National Lok Dal	2
	Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik)	2
	Kerala Congress	2
	Kuki People's Alliance	2
	Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party	2
	People's Party of Arunachal	2
	Prahar Janshakti Party	2
	Republican Party of India (Athawale)	2
66	All Jharkhand Students Union	1
	Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha	1
	Congress (Secular)	1
	Democratic Congress Kerala	1
	Goa Forward Party	1
	Gondwana Ganatantra Party	1
	Indian National League	1
	Indian Secular Front	1
	Indigenous People's Front of Tripura	1
	Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference	1
	Janadhipathya Kerala Congress	1
	Jharkhand Loktantrik Krantikari Morcha	1
	Kerala Congress (B)	1
	Kerala Congress (Jacob)	1
	National Secular Conference	1
	Peasants and Workers Party of India	1
	Raijor Dal	1
	Rajendra Patil	1
	Ravi Gangadhar Rana	1
	Rashtriya Samaj Paksha	1
	Revolutionary Goans Party	1
	Revolutionary Marxist Party of India	1
	Sarvodaya Karnataka Paksha	1
	Vacant	15
	Total	4131