Rajasthan Legislative Assembly :

The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly or the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Rajasthan. The assembly meets at Vidhana Bhavan situated in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan. Members of the Legislative assembly are directly elected by the people for a term of 5 years. Presently, the legislative assembly consists of 200 members.

History :

The First Rajasthan Legislative Assembly (1952–57) was inaugurated on 31 March 1952. It had a strength of 160 members. The strength was increased to 190 after the merger of the erstwhile Ajmer State with Rajasthan in 1956. The Second (1957–62) and Third (1962–67) Legislative Assemblies had a strength of 176. The Fourth (1967–72) and Fifth (1972–77) Legislative Assembly comprised 184 members each. The strength became 200 from the Sixth (1977–80) Legislative Assembly onwards. The Fourteenth Legislative Assembly was commenced on 21 January 2013. Umed Singh of Barmer was youngest member of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, as in 1962 election Result was declared on 19 February 1962 and he was elected from Barmer, that time he was just 25 year and 4 months old.

Party-wise Members in the 15th Assembly (Formed in December 2018) :

Party                                                                              Seats

Rashtriya Loktantrik Party                                                  3

Bharatiya Janata Party                                                      73

Bahujan Samaj Party                                                         6

Indian National Congress                                                  112

Bharatiya Tribal Party                                                           2

Communist Party of India (Marxist)                                      2

Rashtriya Lok Dal                                                                 1

Independent                                                                         1

Total Seats                                                                          200

On 27 March 2019, 12 independent MLAs took the membership of Congress. The tally of Congress increased to 112 in the assembly.

About Structure of State Legislative Assembly :

The State Legislative Assembly is the lower house of a state legislature in the States and Union Territories of India. In the 29 states and 2 union territories with unicameral state legislature it is the sole legislative body. In 7 states it is the lower house of their bicameral state legislatures with the upper house being State Legislative Council. 5 Union Territories are governed directly by the Union Government of India and have no legislative body.

Each Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is 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 Assemblies, in accordance with the 23rd Amendment of the Constitution of India. The Constitution of India states that a State Legislative Assembly 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 State Legislative Assembly 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.

Qualifications required to become an MLA :

To become a Member of a State Legislative Assembly (MLA), a person must be a citizen of India, not less than 25 years of age, should be mentally sound, should not be bankrupt, and must be enrolled on the voters' list of the state for which he or she is contesting an election. He or she may not be a Member of Parliament. 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 State Legislative Council, where it can be kept for a maximum time of 14 days.

In matters related to ordinary bills, the will of State Legislative Assembly prevails and there is no provision of joint sitting. In such cases, State 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).