Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly :

The Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, also known as the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha, is a unicameral governing and law making body of Uttarakhand, one of the 29 States in India, and is seated at Dehradun, the interim capital of Uttarakhand, with 71 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).

Following the Bharatiya Janta Party's historic win in 2017 election, the current Chief Minister of Uttarakhand and Leader of the House is Trivendra Singh Rawat. The Speaker of the Assembly is Premchand Aggarwal. Baby Rani Maurya is the current Governor of Uttarakhand. From 27 March 2016 to 12 May 2016, Uttarakhand was under President's Rule

2016 Assembly suspension :

In March 2016, capping a nine-day high-voltage political drama, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union Government brought Uttarakhand under President's rule citing a constitutional breakdown in the wake of a rebellion in then state-ruling Indian National Congress, which slammed the decision calling it a "murder of democracy" and a "black" day.

The then President Pranab Mukherjee signed the proclamation under Article 356 of the Constitution of India dismissing the INC-ruled State Government the Chief Minister Harish Rawat and placing the Assembly under suspended animation on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet.

The Union Government was of the view that continuance of the Rawat government was "immoral and unconstitutional" after the 18 March 2016, when the Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker declared the Appropriation Bill "passed" in controversial circumstances without allowing a division pressed for by 35 MLAs, including 9 rebel Congress legislators.

The Union Cabinet had held an emergency meeting on Saturday night presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had cut short a visit to Assam to return to the New Delhifor the purpose. The Cabinet considered several reports received from Governor Krishan Kant Paul, who had described the political situation as volatile and expressed apprehensions over possible pandemonium during the scheduled trial of strength in the Assembly on Monday.

The purported CD of the sting operation conducted against the Chief Minister that was in public domain on Saturday was understood to have been factored into the decision of the Cabinet which found it as a case of horse trading.

Additionally Two Uttarakhand MLAs, one each from Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party were on 9 June suspended for cross-voting during the floor test that was held on 10 May. Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal suspended BJP MLA Bhim Lal Arya and INC MLA Rekha Arya.

Current Assembly :

This is 4th Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) of the state. The last state elections were held on February 2017, when the Bharatiya Janata Party won an overwhelming majority of 57 seats in the 70-seat electoral legislature. The Indian National Congress has secured only 11 seats in 4th assembly. The Independents have bagged 2 seats.

Qualification to become member of Legislative assembly :

The qualifications to become a member of the state Legislature are largely similar to the qualifications to be a member of Parliament. i) The person should be a citizen of India ii) not less than 25 years of age  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 member is elected by the people of that particular constituency and represents those people in the legislative assembly and debates on issues related to his or her constituency. The MLA's position is like an MP, but the difference is only that MLA is in the state level and the MP is in the national level.

Term :

The term of the Legislative Assembly is five years. However, it may be dissolved earlier than that by the Governor on the request of the Chief Minister. The term of the Legislative Assembly may be extended during an emergency, but not more than six months at a time. 

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 in 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 state legislatures. Thus the state legislatures take part in the process of amendment of the Constitution.