Thestate governments of Indiaare the governments ruling over the28 states andthree union territories (there are eight union territories but only three union territories have legislative assemblies as well as governments) of India with the head ofCouncil of Ministers in every state being theChief Minister, who also serves as thehead of the government. Power isdivided between theUnion Government (federal government) and the state governments. The federal government appoints aGovernor for each state, who serves as the ceremonialhead of state, and a Lieutenant Governor (or Administrator) for certain union territories, whose powers vary depending on the specific union territory.
Each state has alegislative assembly. A state legislature that has one house – theState Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) – is aunicameral legislature. A state legislature that has two houses – the State Legislative Assembly andState Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) – is abicameral legislature. TheVidhan Sabha is thelower house and corresponds to theLok Sabha while theVidhan Parishad is theupper house and corresponds to theRajya Sabha of theParliament of India.
While the Union government handlesdefence, external affairs etc., the state government deals with internal security andother state issues. Income for the Union government is fromcustoms duty,excise tax,income tax etc., while state government income comes fromsales tax (VAT),stamp duty etc.; now these have been subsumed under the various components of theGoods and Services Tax.
TheSarkaria Commission was set up to review thebalance of power between states' and the Union governments. The Union government can dissolve a state government in favour ofPresident's rule if necessary, subject to certain conditions, as ruled by theSupreme Court of India inS. R. Bommai v. Union of India. It is for 5 years only.
For every state, there is a legislature, which consists of a Governor and either one or two houses.[1]
| State/Union Territory | Legislature type | Size | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower[2] | Upper[3] | Total | ||
| Andhra Pradesh | Bicameral | 175 | 58 | 233 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | Unicameral | 60 | — | 60 |
| Assam | Unicameral | 126 | — | 126 |
| Bihar | Bicameral | 243 | 75 | 318 |
| Chhattisgarh | Unicameral | 90 | — | 90 |
| Delhi | Unicameral | 70 | — | 70 |
| Goa | Unicameral | 40 | — | 40 |
| Gujarat | Unicameral | 182 | — | 182 |
| Haryana | Unicameral | 90 | — | 90 |
| Himachal Pradesh | Unicameral | 68 | — | 68 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | Unicameral | 90 | — | 90 |
| Jharkhand | Unicameral | 81 | — | 81 |
| Karnataka | Bicameral | 224 | 75 | 299 |
| Kerala | Unicameral | 140 | — | 140 |
| Madhya Pradesh | Unicameral | 230 | — | 230 |
| Maharashtra | Bicameral | 288 | 78 | 366 |
| Manipur | Unicameral | 60 | — | 60 |
| Meghalaya | Unicameral | 60 | — | 60 |
| Mizoram | Unicameral | 40 | — | 40 |
| Nagaland | Unicameral | 60 | — | 60 |
| Odisha | Unicameral | 147 | — | 147 |
| Puducherry | Unicameral | 30[a] | — | 33 |
| Punjab | Unicameral | 117 | — | 117 |
| Rajasthan | Unicameral | 200 | — | 200 |
| Sikkim | Unicameral | 32 | — | 32 |
| Tamil Nadu | Unicameral | 234 | — | 234 |
| Telangana | Bicameral | 119 | 40 | 159 |
| Tripura | Unicameral | 60 | — | 60 |
| Uttar Pradesh | Bicameral | 403 | 100 | 503 |
| Uttarakhand | Unicameral | 70 | — | 70 |
| West Bengal | Unicameral | 294 | — | 294 |
| Total | — | 4,123 | 426 | 4,547 |
6 out of 28 states have bicameral legislatures, namelyAndhra Pradesh,Bihar,Karnataka,Maharashtra,Telangana, andUttar Pradesh, with the remaining states having a unicameral one. Parliament may, by law, provide for the abolition of an existing Legislative Council or for the creation of one where it does not exist, if the proposal is supported by a resolution of the Legislative Assembly of the state concerned.
The Legislative Council of a state comprises not more than one-third of the total number of members in the legislative assembly of the state and in no case fewer than 40 members. About one-third of members of theCouncil are elected by members of the legislative assembly from amongst persons who are not its members, one-third by electorates consisting of members ofmunicipalities, district boards and other local authorities in the state, one-twelfth by an electorate consisting of persons who have been, for at least three years, engaged in teaching ineducational institutions within the state not lower in standard than secondary school and a further one-twelfth by registered graduates of more than three years' standing. Remaining members are nominated by theGovernor from among those who have distinguished themselves inliterature,science,art,cooperative movement andsocial service. Legislative Councils are not subject to dissolution but one-third of their members retire every second year.
| Ruling party | States/UTs | |
|---|---|---|
| NDA (4)[4] | ||
| Bharatiya Janata Party | 2 | |
| Telugu Desam Party | 1 | |
| Janata Dal | 1 | |
| INDIA (2)[5] | ||
| Indian National Congress | 2 | |
TheBharatiya Janata Party-ledNational Democratic Alliance is in power in 4 legislative councils; theIndian National Congress-ledIndian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance is in power in 2 legislative councils; and 30 other states/union territories do not have a legislative council.
The Legislative Assembly of a state consists of not more than 500 and not fewer than 60 members (Legislative Assembly ofSikkim has 32 members, whilePuducherry has 33,Goa andMizoram have 40 seats each vide Article 371F of the Constitution) chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the state. Demarcation of territorial constituencies is to be done in such a manner that the ratio between population of each constituency and number of seats allotted to it, as far as practicable, is the same throughout the state. The term of an assembly is five years unless it is dissolved earlier.
TheBharatiya Janata Party-ledNational Democratic Alliance is in power in 20 legislative assemblies; theIndian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance is in power in eight legislative assemblies; two legislative assemblies are ruled by two other parties and one legislative assembly is under thePresident's rule.[6]
State legislature has exclusive powers over subjects enumerated in theState List (List II of the Seventh Schedule) of the Constitution and concurrent powers over those enumerated in sub List III. Financial powers of legislature include authorization of all expenditure,taxation and borrowing by the state government. The Legislative Assembly alone has the power to originate money bills. The Legislative Council can only make recommendations in respect of changes it considers necessary within a period of fourteen days of the receipt of money bills from the Legislative Assembly, which can accept or reject these recommendations.
The Governor of a state may reserve any Bill for the consideration of the President. Bills relating to subjects like the compulsory acquisition of property, measures affecting powers and position of High Courts, and the imposition of taxes on storage, distribution, and sale of water or electricity in Inter-state River or river valley development projects should necessarily be so reserved. No Bills seeking to impose restrictions on inter-state trade can be introduced in a state legislature without the previous sanction of the President.
State legislatures, apart from exercising the usual power of financial control, use all normal parliamentary devices like questions, discussions, debates, adjournments, and no-confidence motions and resolutions to keep a watch over the day-to-day work of the executive. They also have their own committees on estimates and public accounts to ensure that grants sanctioned by the legislature are properly utilized.
There are, overall, 4,121 legislative assembly seats in states and Union territories of India.[9][10][11]Andhra Pradesh abolished its Legislative Council in 1984, but set up a new Legislative Council following elections in 2007.[12]
The state executive[13] consists of aGovernor and the State Council of Ministers, with theChief Minister as its head.
The Governor of a state is appointed by thePresident of India for a term of five years and holds office during their pleasure. Only Indian citizens above 35 years of age are eligible for appointment to this office.
Executive power of the state is vested in the Governor. All Governors are obligated to discharge their constitutional functions such as the appointment of the Chief Minister of a state, sending a report to the President on the failure of the Constitutional machinery in a state or in respect of matters relating to assent to passing a bill in the state assembly.
Similarly, in respect ofArunachal Pradesh, its Governor has special responsibility under Article 371H of the Constitution with respect to law and order and in discharge of his functions in relation thereto. The Governor exercises his individual judgement as to the action to be taken after consulting the Council of Ministers. These are, however, temporary provisions. If thePresident of India, on receipt of a report from Governor or otherwise is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the Governor to have special responsibilities with respect to law and order, he may so direct by an order.
Likewise, in the Sixth Schedule which applies to tribal areas of Assam,Meghalaya,Tripura andMizoram as specified in para 20 of that Schedule, discretionary powers are given to the Governor in matters relating to sharing of royalties between the district councils and the state government. The Sixth Schedule vests additional discretionary powers in theGovernors of Mizoram andTripura in almost all their functions (except approving regulations for levy of taxes and money lending by non-tribal district councils) since December 1998. In Sikkim, the Governor has been given special responsibility for peace and social and economic advancement of different sections of population.
TheChief Minister is appointed by theGovernor, who also appoints other ministers on the advice of the Chief Minister. The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the state.
The Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as its head aids and advises the Governor in exercise of his functions except in so far as he is by or under the Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them at his discretion. In respect ofNagaland, its Governor has special responsibility under Article 371 A of the Constitution with respect to law and order and even though it is necessary for him to consult Council of Ministers in matters relating to law and order, he can exercise his individual judgement as to the action to be taken.
The State Secretariat serves as the administrative headquarters of a state government, functioning as the central hub for policy formulation, implementation, and interdepartmental coordination. This complex of buildings houses the offices of the Chief Minister, cabinet ministers, and Secretaries, who are senior civil servants (typicallyIndian Administrative Service officers) responsible for the administrative oversight of various government departments.[14]
The Secretariat is the top most echelon of the State administration and its main function is to assist the political executive – the Chief Minister and other Ministers - in maintaining peace and law and order and designing policies for the socio-economic development of the State as well as in carrying out legislative responsibilities of the government.The political executive is elected for a fixed tenure, but the Secretariat consists of civil servants and others who are permanent employees of the government.
State government functionaries includes:
The Chief Ministers frequently assumes responsibility for several key ministerial portfolios, including but not limited to Departments of Home and General Administration. The Ministers head different departments, make policies, and oversee administration. They ensure implementation of government decisions, supervise their departments, and answer to the legislature. All ministers work together under the principle of collective responsibility.
Each secretariat department is in charge of a number of executive departments. The executive departments/agencies implement the government policies and works at field level. This number varies over a wide range with some departments taking charge of a much larger number of executive heads than others. Some of the secretariat departments are engaged in advisory and controlling functions and therefore do not have executive departments reporting to them. Examples are Departments of Law, Finance, etc.
StateHigh courts have jurisdiction over the whole state, but report to theSupreme Court of India, which may override the high court's judgments and rulings.
 State governments of India | |
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| State governments | |
| Union territories | |
| Constitution |  | |
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| Executive | ||
| Legislature | ||
| Judiciary | ||