Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council

The Legislative Council of Andhra Pradesh or Andhra Pradesh Śāsana Manḍali is the upper house of the legislature of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh; the lower house being the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. It is situated in the state Legislative capital of Amaravati, and has 58 members. The Vidhan Parishad has been in existence in two spells - from 1958 to 1985, and from 2007 continuing till today. A resolution has been passed by AP government for dissolution of the house which awaits parliament ratification.

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council
Type
Type
Term limits
6 years
Leadership
Leader of the House
Vacant, YSRCP
Leader of the Opposition
Structure
Seats58 (50 Elected + 8 Nominated)
Political groups
Government (13)
  •   YSRCP (13)

Opposition (29)

Others (11)

  •   PDF (5)
  •   BJP (3)
  •   IND (3)

Vacant (5)

  •   Vacant (5)
Elections
Single transferable vote
Meeting place
Council Building
Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh, India
Website
http://www.aplegislature.org/web/legislative-council

History

In the first years since its creation in post-independence India, the state of Andhra Pradesh worked under a unicameral parliamentary system. On 5 December 1956, the Andhra Pradesh Vidhana Sabha passed a resolution calling for the creation of an upper house, the Vidhan Parishad, to transition to a bicameral system. The members of the majority party/coalition in the lower house would be the ruling party of the upper house, regardless of number. The house will have a chairman who conducts day-to-day affairs, rather than a speaker.[1] The Vidhan Parishad was formed officially on 1 July 1958 under article 168 of the Constitution of India. The first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad inaugurated the Vidhan Parishad on 8 July 1958.[1]

Abolition in 1980

In the 1980s, Andhra Pradesh became one of the first states to seek the abolition of the upper houses, which were being increasingly criticised as being unnecessary, unrepresentative of the population, a burden on the state budget and causing delays in passing legislation.[1][2][3][4] However, the move was criticised as an attempt by the then-ruling party, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), to deny their main political opposition, the Indian National Congress (then Congress (I)) of influence in the state government and the control of the upper house, which could delay TDP-sponsored legislation and where the TDP held no seats.[4] In accordance with a resolution passed by the Andhra Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, the Indian Parliament abolished the Vidhan Parishad through the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council (Abolition) Act in 1985, after the Congress (I) suffered a major defeat in the state elections in Andhra Pradesh.[1][4]

Revival in 1989

Subsequent attempts were made to revive the Legislative Council under Chief Minister Dr. Marri Chenna Reddy, who belonged to the Congress (I), which had won the state elections in 1989.[1][4] A resolution to revive the Legislative Council was passed in the Vidhan Sabha on 22 January 1990.[1] The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, passed legislation authorising the revival of the Legislative Council as per the resolution of the state Vidhan Sabha on 28 May 1990, but the legislation stalled in the lower house, the Lok Sabha, primarily due to its dissolution in 1991 before the completion of its five-year term.[1] The subsequent Lok Sabhas (1991–1996, 1996–1998, 1998–2004) did not take any further action.

After its victory in the 2004 state elections, the Congress-led Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed another resolution on 8 July 2004 calling for the revival of the Legislative Council.[1] This time it was introduced in the Lok Sabha as the Andhra Pradesh Council Bill on 16 December 2004. On 15 December 2006 the Lok Sabha passed the legislation, which was quickly passed by the Rajya Sabha on 20 December, and received the assent of the President on 10 January 2007.[1] The newly revived Legislative Council was constituted on 30 March 2007 and inaugurated on 2 April by Rameshwar Thakur, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh.[1]

Second abolition proposed in 2020

Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly made and passed the resolution for abolition of the Legislative Council on 27 Jan 2020. This resolution is yet to be cleared by the Parliament of India to finally abolish the council.

Designations and present members

The Chairman, elected by the Council, presides over the sessions of the Council. The Deputy Chairman is also elected to preside in the Chairman's absence.

Presiding Officers
DesignationName
GovernorBiswabhusan Harichandan
ChairmanShariff Mohammed Ahmed, TDP
Deputy ChairmanReddy Subrahmanyam
Leader of the HouseVacant, YSRCP
Leader of the OppositionYanamala Rama Krishnudu, TDP
Secretary of Legislative CouncilM. Vijaya Raju

Members
No Party Members
1 Telugu Desam Party 29
2 YSR Congress Party 13
3 Progressive Democratic Front 5
4 Bharatiya Janata Party 3
5 Independent 3
6 Vacant 5
- Total 58

Membership and tenure

The Legislative Council is a permanent house, not subject to dissolution.[1] Its 58 members serves six-year term, and every two years, one-third of the total number of members "retire" in rotation, and undergo the re-election process.[1] To become a member, the individual must be a citizen of India and at least 30 years of age. 8 members of the Council are nominated by the Governor of Andhra Pradesh. 40 members are elected by an electoral college of the Legislative Assembly and local governing bodies. The 10 remaining members would be elected from constituencies of college graduates and teachers.[5]

Elected By Members Of Legislative Assembly

Keys:   TDP (10)   YSRCP (7)   BJP (1)   Vacant (2)

# Member Party Term
1. Yanamala Ramakrishnudu Telugu Desam Party 29-03-2025
2. Parchuri Ashok Babu Telugu Desam Party 29-03-2025
3. Duvvarapu Rama Rao Telugu Desam Party 29-03-2025
4. B Tirumala Naidu Telugu Desam Party 29-03-2025
5. Nara Lokesh Telugu Desam Party 29-03-2023
6. Batchula Arjunudu Telugu Desam Party 29-03-2023
7. Shariff Mohammed Ahmed Telugu Desam Party 24-05-2021
8. Vattikuti Veera Venkanna Chowdary Telugu Desam Party 29-03-2021
9. Gundumala Thippe Swamy Telugu Desam Party 29-03-2021
10. Gummidi Sandhya Rani Telugu Desam Party 29-03-2021
11. Janga Krishna Murthy YSR Congress Party 29-03-2025
12. Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad YSR Congress Party 29-03-2023
13. Gangula Prabhakar Reddy YSR Congress Party 29-03-2023
14. P.V.V.Suryanarayana Raju YSR Congress Party 29-03-2023
15. Pothula Suneetha YSR Congress Party 29-03-2023
16. Devasani Chinna Govinda Reddy YSR Congress Party 24-05-2021
17. Shaik Mohammed Iqbal YSR Congress Party 29-03-2021
18. Somu Veerraju Bharatiya Janata Party 24-05-2021
19. Vacant 29-03-2023
20. Vacant 29-03-2021

Elected from Local Authorities constituencies

  TDP (15)   YSRCP (1)   BJP (1)   Vacant (3)

# Constituency Member Party Term
1. Chittoor B.N. Rajasimhulu Telugu Desam Party 01-05-2023
2. West Godavari Angara Ramamohan Telugu Desam Party 01-05-2023
3. West Godavari Manthena Venkata Satyanarayana Raju Telugu Desam Party 01-05-2023
4. East Godavari Chikkala Ramachandra Telugu Desam Party 01-05-2023
5. Srikakulam Satrucharla Vijaya Rama Raju Telugu Desam Party 01-05-2023
6. Nellore Vakati Narayana Reddy Bharatiya Janata Party 01-05-2023
7. Kurnool K.E. Prabhakar Telugu Desam Party 01-05-2023
8. Kadapa Mareddy Ravindranatha Reddy(B.tech Ravi) Telugu Desam Party 29-03-2023
9. Anantapur Gunapati Deepak Reddy Telugu Desam Party 29-03-2023
10. Vizianagaram Dwarapureddi Jagadeeswara Rao Telugu Desam Party 18-06-2021
11. Chittoor Gali Saraswathi Telugu Desam Party 18-06-2021
12. East Godavari Reddy Subrahmanyam Telugu Desam Party 18-06-2021
13. Krishna Buddha Venkateswara Rao Telugu Desam Party 18-06-2021
14. Krishna Y.V. Babu Rajendra Prasad Telugu Desam Party 18-06-2021
15. Visakhapatnam Pappala Chalapathirao Telugu Desam Party 18-06-2021
16. Visakhapatnam B. Naga Jagadeeswara Rao Telugu Desam Party 18-06-2021
17. Guntur Ummareddy Venkateswarlu YSR Congress Party 18-06-2021
18. Guntur Vacant TBD 18-06-2021
19. Prakasam Vacant TBD 18-06-2021
20. Anantapur Vacant TBD 18-06-2021

Elected from Graduates constituencies

  PDF (3)   YSRCP (1)   BJP (1)

# Constituency Member Party Term
1. East Godavari,West Godavari Illa Venkateswara Rao Progressive Democratic Front 30-03-2025
2. Krishna,Guntur Kalagara Sai Lakshmana Rao Progressive Democratic Front 30-03-2025
3. Chittoor, Nellore,Prakasam Yandapalli Srinivasulu Reddy Progressive Democratic Front 29-03-2023
4. Anantapur,Kurnool,Kadapa Vennapusa Gopal Reddy YSR Congress Party 29-03-2023
5. Srikakulam,Vizianagaram,Visakapatnam P. V. N. Madhav Bharatiya Janata Party 29-03-2023

Elected from Teachers constituencies

  PDF (2)   Independent (3)

# Constituency Member Party Term
1 Srikakulam,Vizianagaram,Visakhapatnam Pakalapati Raghu Varma Independent 30-03-2025
2 Chittoor,Nellore,Prakasam Vitapu Balasubrahmanyam Progressive Democratic Front 29-03-2023
3 Anantapur,Kurnool,Kadapa Katti Narasimha Reddy Independent 29-03-2023
4 East Godavari,West Godavari Ramu Surya Rao Progressive Democratic Front 29-03-2021
5 Krishna,Guntur A. S. Ramakrishna Independent 29-03-2021

Nominated Members

  YSRCP (4)   TDP (4)

# Member Party Term Start Term End
1. Pandula Ravindra Babu YSR Congress Party 28-07-2020 27-07-2026
2. Zakia Khanum YSR Congress Party 28-07-2020 27-07-2026
3. Chadipiralla Sivanatha Reddy YSR Congress Party 08-03-2019 20-07-2023
4. Pamidi Samanthakamani YSR Congress Party 08-03-2019 11-06-2021
5. N. M. D. Farooq Telugu Desam Party 21-07-2017 20-07-2023
6. Gownivaari Sreenivasulu Telugu Desam Party 12-06-2015 11-06-2021
7. Beeda Ravichandra Telugu Desam Party 12-06-2015 11-06-2021
8. T.D. Janardhan Telugu Desam Party 12-06-2015 11-06-2021

References
  1. "Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council History". National Informatics Centre. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  2. Sharma. Introduction to the Constitution of India, Fifth Edition. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. pp. 212–13. ISBN 978-81-203-3674-2.
  3. Laxmikanth. Indian Polity For UPSC 3E. Tata McGraw-Hill. pp. 27–1. ISBN 978-0-07-015316-5.
  4. Agarala Easwara Reddy (1994). State politics in India: reflections on Andhra Pradesh. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. pp. 97–110. ISBN 978-81-85880-51-8.
  5. TMH General Knowledge Manual. Tata McGraw. 2007. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-07-061999-9.
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