State Legislature and the Governor

Each State runs its own Legislature, with a Governor as its constitutional head. The design mirrors the Union closely — but not exactly. From when a Legislative Council gets created, to when a Governor can act alone, the gaps show up constantly in exams.

1State Assembly Strength and Structure

Article 170

Every Assembly has a fixed size range

What Article 170 does

Article 170 fixes the size of every State Legislative Assembly. Each State’s Assembly must fall between a set minimum and maximum.

Why the number varies by State

The exact number scales with the State’s population. A bigger State gets a proportionately bigger Assembly.

A separate job: drawing the boundaries

Fixing the Assembly’s size is not the same as drawing constituency boundaries. That separate task belongs to the Delimitation Commission.

2Creating or Abolishing a Legislative Council

Optional Upper House

Not every State has one

Structure

A Legislative Council is an Upper House at the State level. It exists only in States that chose to create one.

How a Council gets created or abolished

Parliament creates or abolishes a State’s Legislative Council. But it can only act after that State’s own Assembly first passes a resolution asking for it.

The result today

Only a handful of States currently run a Council. Most States work with a single-chamber Assembly alone.

3The Governor: Appointment and Tenure

Article 155

Appointed by the President, not elected

Who appoints the Governor

The President appoints every State’s Governor, under Article 155. No State-level election ever fills this office.

How long a Governor serves

A Governor holds office “during the pleasure of the President.” The normal term is five years.

A residence rule that doesn’t apply

A Governor need not live in the State they are appointed to. An MLA, by contrast, must.

4The Governor’s Ordinance-Making Power

Article 213

Law-making when the Legislature isn’t sitting

When this power applies

The Governor can issue an Ordinance whenever the State Legislature isn’t in session.

What force it carries

An Ordinance carries the same force as an Act of the Legislature. But that force only lasts for a limited time.

When it lapses

The Ordinance must be laid before the Legislature once it reconvenes. It lapses six weeks after reassembly, unless the Legislature approves it first.

5The Chief Minister’s Duty to Keep the Governor Informed

Article 167

A running window into government business

The duty itself

Article 167 places a direct duty on the Chief Minister: keep the Governor informed.

What must be communicated

This covers Cabinet decisions and proposed legislation. It gets communicated as and when the Governor asks for it.

Why it matters

It gives the Governor ongoing visibility into the State government’s business. The Governor still holds no executive role in that business.

6Article 163: When the Governor Acts Alone

The Exception, Not the Rule

Discretion is narrow, ministerial advice is the norm

The general rule

Article 163 states plainly that the Governor acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers.

The narrow exception

A few situations require the Governor to act alone. Appointing a Chief Minister after a hung Assembly is the classic example.

The takeaway

Discretion is the exception here, not the rule. Most of a Governor’s day-to-day role still runs on ministerial advice.

7Article 200: Reserving a Bill for the President

Article 200

The Governor can pass a Bill up to the Centre

What the power lets the Governor do

Article 200 lets a Governor reserve a State Bill for the President’s consideration, instead of signing it.

The exam trap

The President cannot independently pull in a Bill the Governor hasn’t first reserved and forwarded. This is a frequent exam trap.

Why this is in the news

In 2025, exactly how long a Governor can sit on a Bill before acting reached the Supreme Court. See the Current Affairs card below.

8One Pardon Power the Governor Doesn’t Have

Union vs State Gap

Court Martial sentences stay with the President

The gap

The President can pardon a sentence given by a Court Martial. The Governor cannot.

Why it’s a favourite trap

This is one of the clearest gaps between the Union and State versions of the pardoning power. Exams test it often.

9The Governor’s Legal Immunity

Articles 361 and 158(3)

Two separate shields, not one

Shield one: criminal proceedings

Article 361 shields a sitting Governor from criminal proceedings, for the length of their term.

Shield two: salary protection

Article 158(3) adds a second protection. A Governor’s salary and allowances cannot be cut while they hold office.

Read more

See Polity0357 — The Governor: Office, Powers and Immunities for the fuller picture.

10The Sarkaria Commission’s Recommendations

Centre-State Relations

Cutting political misuse of the Governor’s office

What the Commission studied

The Sarkaria Commission studied Centre-State relations. It made recommendations on how Governors are appointed, and how long they serve.

The goal behind those recommendations

Its goal was cutting down political misuse of the office. That means Governors picked or removed for partisan reasons, rather than genuine cause.

Read more

See the Sarkaria Commission article for the fuller recommendations.

11A Dual Role, A Recurring Controversy

Federalism Tension

Two hats, one office

The dual role

A Governor wears two hats at once. They are a Union-appointed official, and also the State’s own constitutional head.

Why controversy keeps recurring

That dual identity is exactly why Governors keep landing in political controversy. It happens especially in States run by a party opposed to the Centre.

What to watch for

Watch for this tension whenever a question links “federalism” and “the office of Governor” in the same breath.

12How Closely the States Mirror the Union

Same Blueprint, Not Identical

An Assembly, sometimes a Council, always a Governor

The shared structure

A State’s legislative structure closely mirrors Parliament at the Union level. There’s an Assembly, sometimes a Council, and a Governor standing in for the President.

Where the mirror breaks

The mirror isn’t exact. A State Legislative Council plays a far more limited role than the Rajya Sabha, and most States don’t even have one.

Why the framers designed it this way

The framers deliberately kept the Council optional. Federalism doesn’t require every State to replicate the Union’s exact shape.

13When Does a Speaker Actually Vacate Office?

Article 179

Dissolution doesn’t remove the Speaker right away

The general rule

A State Assembly’s Speaker leaves office the moment they stop being a member of that House.

The exception that trips people up

Dissolving the Assembly does NOT remove the Speaker immediately. They keep the chair until just before the newly elected Assembly first meets.

Read more

See Polity0356 — Speaker of the Legislative Assembly for the full mechanics.

14PYQ: What Examiners Actually Ask

UPSC CSP 2019

The Governor’s customary address

The question

This question asked whether the Governor’s customary opening-session address, and following Lok Sabha rules when a State has none of its own, are both correct. The answer: only the first is correct.

Why

Article 176 does require that customary address. But a State Legislature without its own rule on some matter follows rules made by its own Speaker or Chairman — not the Lok Sabha’s.

Source: UPSC CSP 2019, GS Paper I (see Q53).

UPSC CSP 2025

Discretion and Bill reservation

The question

This question asked whether the Constitution explicitly names discretionary Governor powers, and whether the President can independently reserve a State Bill. The answer: only the first is correct.

Why

Article 163(1) does carve out a discretion exception. But Article 200 requires the Governor to reserve and forward a Bill first — the President cannot pull it in independently.

Source: UPSC CSP 2025, GS Paper I (see Q54).

CDS (I) 2019

The Legislative Council composition trap

The question

This question asked which statement about a State’s Legislative Council is NOT correct. Options included: strength capped at one-third of the Assembly, one-twelfth elected by local-body electorates, and one-twelfth elected by graduates. The answer: the local-body statement is wrong.

Why

Under Article 171, local bodies elect one-THIRD of a Council’s members, not one-twelfth. One-twelfth is the share reserved separately for graduates, and again separately for teachers.

Source: UPSC CDS (I) 2019, General Knowledge (see Q34). Note: the paper’s own answer block is missing on this question live — verified independently against Article 171’s text.

15Supreme Court’s November 2025 Ruling on Governor Assent

Current Affairs, 20 November 2025

No fixed deadline, but no unlimited delay either

The ruling

On 20 November 2025, a five-judge Constitution Bench answered a Presidential Reference. It addressed exactly how long a Governor can sit on a State Bill.

What the Court decided

The Court refused to set a fixed timeline for Governors or the President under Articles 200 and 201. It also rejected the idea of automatic “deemed assent” if they stayed silent.

Why it still matters

The Bench held a Governor cannot sit on a Bill forever. Assent, reservation, or return are the only real options. CJI B.R. Gavai warned that unchecked delay would leave an elected government “at the whims and fancies” of the Governor.