Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh (/ˈʊtər prəˈdɛʃ/, Hindi : उत्तर प्रदेश literally "Northern Province"), abbreviated as UP, is a state located in Northern India. It was created on 1 April 1937 as the United Provinces, and was renamed Uttar Pradesh in 1950. Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Allahabad, Moradabad, Bareilly, Aligarh, Sonbhadra and Varanasi are known for their industrial importance in the state. On 9 November 2000, a new state, Uttarakhand, was carved out from the Himalayan hill region of Uttar Pradesh.

The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the west, Haryana and Delhi to the northwest, Uttarakhand and the country of Nepal to the north, Bihar to the east, Madhya Pradesh to the south and touches small areas of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to the south eastern corner. It covers 243,290 square kilometres (93,933 sq mi), equal to 6.88% of the total area of India, and is the fourth largest Indian state by area. With over 200 million inhabitants in 2011, it is the most populous state in the country as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. Hindi is the official and most widely spoken language in its 75 districts. Uttar Pradesh is the third largest Indian state by economy, with a GDP of ₹9763 billion (US$140 billion). Agriculture and service industries are the largest parts of the state's economy. The service sector comprises travel and tourism, hotel industry, real estate, insurance and financial consultancies.

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly

The Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha (Hindi: उत्तर प्रदेश विधान सभा) is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It has a total of 404 members including one Anglo-Indian member who is nominated by the Governor. Till 1967, it had a strength of 431 members including one nominated Anglo-Indian member. According to the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission, which is appointed after every Census, it was revised to 426. After reorganization of the State on 9 November 2000, the strength of the Legislative Assembly has become 404 including one nominated member to represent the Anglo-Indian community. The Term of the Vidhan Sabha is five years unless dissolved earlier. The election for it is held on the principle of "one adult one vote".

History

Pre-independence

The Legislative Assembly for the United Provinces was constituted for the first time on 1 April 1937 in accordance with the Government of India Act, 1935. The strength of the Assembly as stipulated under the Act of 1935 was 228 and its term was five years. Sri Purushottam Das Tandon and Sri Abdul Hakim were elected the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker respectively on 31 July 1937.

Legislative assembly

Legislative assembly is the name given in some countries to either a legislature, or to one of its branch. The name is used by a number of member-states of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as a number of other countries, with notable examples being that of the Australian States, which each have a legislative assembly as a Lower House.

Legislative assemblies in the Commonwealth

The modern-day legislative assembly in a Commonwealth country, either as a national or sub-national parliament, is in most cases an evolution of one of these colonial legislative chambers.

In a number of territories, the name House of Assembly is used instead.

Examples of legislative assemblies in Commonwealth countries

In India, the lower or sole house of each constituent state's parliament is called the legislative assembly, or Vidhan Sabha. The same name is also used for the lower house of the legislatures for two of the union territories, Delhi and Puducherry. The upper house in the seven states with a bicameral legislature is called the legislative council, or Vidhan Parishad. Members of the former are called MLAs, and those of the latter MLCs.

Legislative assembly (disambiguation)

Legislative assembly may refer to:

Legislative Assembly (British Guiana)

The Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Legislature in British Guiana between 1961 and 1964.

History

A new constitution was promulgated on 18 July 1961, replacing the unicameral Legislative Council with the Legislature. The new body consisted of a 13-member Senate and a 36-member Legislative Assembly. Whilst the 13 members of the Senate were nominated, the Legislative Assembly was elected, and consisted of 35 members elected in single-member constituencies, and a Speaker elected by the elected MPs.

Elections to the new Legislature were held on 21 August 1961. The People's Progressive Party (PPP) won 20 seats, the People's National Congress (PNC) won 11 and the United Force four. Both houses convened for the first time on 5 October 1961, when members elected Rahman Baccus Gajraj as Speaker.

Although the PPP had only received 1.6% more of the vote than the PNC, it won almost double the number of seats. This resulted in mass demonstrations led by the PNC, a general strike and severe inter-racial violence. A few weeks after the elections the British authorities intervened by sending in troops and the Governor declared a state of emergency.