West Bengal Legislative Assembly পশ্চিমবঙ্গ বিধানসভা | |
|---|---|
| 17th West Bengal Assembly | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
Term limits | 5 years |
| Leadership | |
Leader of the House (Chief Minister) | |
Deputy Leader of the House | |
Deputy Leader of the Opposition | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 294 |
 | |
Political groups | Government (225) Official Opposition (65)
Other Opposition (2) Vacant (2)
|
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
Last election | 27 March to 29 April 2021 |
Next election | 2026 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Vidhan Sabha,Kolkata,West Bengal | |
| Website | |
| www | |
| Footnotes | |
| The Assembly was established in 1862 for theBengal Presidency. The Presidency became the state ofWest Bengal in theRepublic of India in 1950; the state of West Bengal in its current state was formed on 1 May 1960. | |
TheWest Bengal Legislative Assembly (পশ্চিমবঙ্গ বিধানসভা) is theunicameral legislature of theIndianstate ofWest Bengal. It is located in theB. B. D. Bagh area ofKolkata, the capital of the state. Members of the Legislative assembly are directly elected by the people. The legislative assembly comprises294Members of Legislative Assembly, all directly elected from single-seat constituencies. Its term is five years, unless sooner dissolved.
The history of the West Bengal Legislature can be traced back to 18 January 1862 when under theIndian Councils Act 1861, a 12 Member Legislative Council forBengal Presidency was established by the Governor-General of British India with the Lt. Governor of Bengal and some nominated members. The strength of the council was gradually enlarged by subsequent acts. Under theIndian Councils Act 1892, the maximum strength of the council was raised to 20 out of which seven were to be elected. TheIndian Councils Act 1909 further raised the number of members of the council to 50. Under theGovernment of India Act 1919, the number of members of the Legislative Council was once again raised to 125. The Bengal Legislative Council constituted under the act of 1919 was formally inaugurated on 1 February 1921 by theDuke of Connaught.
A few years later, under the provisions of theGovernment of India Act 1935, two chambers of the Bengal Provincial Legislature: the Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly, were created. The life of the assembly, consisting of 250 members, was to be five years unless dissolved sooner; while the council, with a membership of not less than 63 and not more than 65, was made a permanent body and not subject to dissolution with the provision that one-third of the members should retire every three years.
On the eve of Independence in 1947, Bengal Province was partitioned intoWest Bengal andEast Bengal (East Pakistan). The West Bengal Legislative Assembly was constituted with 90 members representing the constituencies that fell within the area of West Bengal and two nominated members fromAnglo-Indian community. The Bengal Legislative Council stood abolished. The Legislative Assembly met for the first time after Independence on 21 November 1947.
The Constitution of India again provided for a bicameral Legislature for West Bengal. Accordingly, the West Bengal Legislative Council consisting of 51 members was constituted on 5 June 1952. The number of members in the Legislative Assembly was 240 including two nominated members from the Anglo-Indian Community. After the first General Elections, the new Assembly met for the first time on 18 June 1952.
On 21 March 1969, a resolution was passed by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly for the abolition of the Legislative Council. Subsequently, Indian Parliament passed the West Bengal Legislative Council (Abolition) Act, 1969 abolishing the Legislative Council with effect from 1 August 1969.
| S.No | Position | Portrait | Name | Party | Constituency | Office Taken | Reference | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Speaker | Biman Banerjee | Trinamool Congress | Baruipur Paschim | 8 May 2021 | [2] | ||
| 2 | Deputy Speaker |  | Ashish Banerjee | Rampurhat | 2 May 2021 | [3] | ||
| 3 | Leader of the House (Chief Minister) | _(cropped).JPG) | Mamata Banerjee | Bhabanipur | 5 May 2021 | [4] | ||
| 4 | Leader of the Opposition |  | Suvendu Adhikari | Bharatiya Janata Party | Nandigram | 10 May 2021 | [5] | |
| 5 | Deputy Leader of the Opposition | Mihir Goswami | Natabari | [6] | ||||
Source[34]
| Date for by-poll | Constituency | Previous MLA | Vacant Since | Reason | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TBD | 75 | Domkal | Jafikul Islam | Trinamool Congress | 4 September 2025 | Death | |
| 78 | Tehatta | Tapas Kumar Saha | 15 May 2025[35] | ||||
| Parliament of India | |||||
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| State Legislative Assembly |
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