Editing Politics of India (section)

== State Governments ==
{{main|State governments of India}}
[[State government|State governments]] in India are the governments ruling over [[States and union territories of India|28 states]] and [[Union territory|8 union territories]] of India and the head of the [[Council of Ministers]] in a state is the [[Chief minister (India)|Chief Minister]]. Each state has a [[legislative assembly]]. A state legislature that has one house – the [[State Legislative Assembly (India)|State Legislative Assembly]] (Vidhan Sabha) – is a [[unicameral]] legislature. A state legislature that has two houses – the State Legislative Assembly and [[State Legislative Council (India)|State Legislative Council]] (Vidhan Parishad) – is a [[bicameral]] legislature. The Vidhan Sabha is the [[lower house]] and corresponds to the [[Lok Sabha]] while the Vidhan Parishad is the [[upper house]] and corresponds to the [[Rajya Sabha]] of the [[Parliament of India]]

=== Vidhan Sabha ===
{{main|State legislative assemblies of India}}
Vidhan Sabha, also known as State Legislative Assembly, is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of [[India]]. In [[States and union territories of India|22 states]] and 3 [[Union territory|union territories]], there is a [[Unicameralism|unicameral legislature]] which is the sole legislative body. Vidhan Sabha is present in all the states and 3 union territories.

Each [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|Member of the Legislative Assembly]] (MLA) is directly elected to serve 5-year terms by [[Single-member district|single-member constituencies]]. The [[Constitution of India]] states that a State Legislative Assembly must have no less than 60 and no more than 500 members however an exception may be granted via an [[List of Acts of the Parliament of India|Act]] of [[Parliament of India|Parliament]] as is the case in the states of [[Goa]], [[Sikkim]], [[Mizoram]] and the union territory of [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] which have fewer than 60 members. 

A State Legislative Assembly may be [[Dissolution of parliament|dissolved]] in a [[State of Emergency in India|state of emergency]], by the [[Governor (India)|Governor]] on request of the [[Chief Minister (India)|Chief Minister]], or if a [[motion of no confidence]] is passed against the ruling majority party or coalition.

=== Vidhan Parishad ===
{{main|State legislative councils of India}}
Vidhan Parishad, also called as the State Legislative Council, is the [[upper house]] in those states of [[India]] that have a [[Bicameralism|bicameral]] [[State legislature (India)|state legislature]]; the [[lower house]] being the [[State legislative assemblies of India|State Legislative Assembly]]. Its establishment is defined in Article 169 of the [[Constitution of India]].

Only 6 out of [[States and union territories of India|28 states]] have a Legislative Council. These are [[Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council|Andhra Pradesh]], [[Karnataka Legislative Council|Karnataka]], [[Telangana Legislative Council|Telangana]], [[Maharashtra Legislative Council|Maharashtra]], [[Bihar Vidhan Parishad|Bihar]], and [[Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council|Uttar Pradesh]]. No [[union territory]] has a legislative council.

The size of the State Legislative Council cannot be more than one third of the membership of the State Legislative Assembly. However, its size cannot be less than 40 members. These members elect the chairman and Deputy Chairman of the State Legislative Council.