The Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, also known as the Delhi Vidhan Sabha, is a unicameral legislature of the union territory of Delhi in India. Delhi Legislative Assembly is the legislative arm of the Government of Delhi. At present, it consists of 70 members, directly elected from 70 constituencies. The tenure of the Legislative Assembly is five years unless dissolved sooner.
Delhi Legislative Assembly | |
|---|---|
| 7th Delhi Assembly | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
Term limits | 5 years |
| History | |
| Founded | 7 March 1952 |
| Preceded by | Delhi Metropolitan Council |
| Leadership | |
Leader of the House (Chief Minister) | |
Vacant since 17 November 2024 | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 70 |
 | |
Political groups | Government (58)
Vacant (5)
|
| Elections | |
| First-past-the-post | |
Last election | 8 February 2020 |
Next election | February 2025 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Old Secretariat, Delhi, India | |
| Website | |
| Legislative Assembly of Delhi | |
The seat of assembly is the Old Secretariat building, which is also the seat of the Government of Delhi.
History
editThe Delhi Legislative Assembly was first constituted on 7 March 1952 under the Government of Part C States Act, 1951; it was inaugurated by Home Minister K. N. Katju. The Assembly had 48 members, and a Council of Ministers in an advisory role to the Chief Commissioner of Delhi, though it also had powers to make laws. The first Council of Ministers was led by Chaudhary Brahm Prakash, who became the first Chief Minister of Delhi.[1][2]
However, the States Reorganisation Commission, set up in 1953, led to the Constitutional amendment through States Reorganisation Act, 1956, which came into effect on 1 November 1956. This meant that Delhi was no longer a Part-C State and was made a Union Territory under the direct administration of the President of India. Also the Delhi Legislative Assembly and the Council of Ministers were abolished simultaneously. Subsequently, the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 was enacted which led to the formation the Municipal Corporation.[1]
In September 1966, with "The Delhi Administration Act, 1966", the assembly was replaced by the Delhi Metropolitan Council with 56 elected and five nominated members with the Lt. Governor of Delhi as its head. The Council however had no legislative powers, only an advisory role in the governance of Delhi. This set up functioned until 1990.[1][3]
This Council was finally replaced by the Delhi Legislative Assembly through the Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991, followed by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 the Sixty-ninth Amendment to the Constitution of India, which declared the Union Territory of Delhi to be formally known as National Capital Territory of Delhi and also supplements the constitutional provisions relating to the Legislative Assembly and the Council of Ministers and related matters.[4] The Legislative Assembly is selected for period of five years, and presently it is the seventh assembly, which was selected through the 2020 Legislative Assembly election.
Assembly building
editThe building was originally built in 1912, designed by E. Montague Thomas to hold the Imperial Legislative Council and subsequently the Central Legislative Assembly (after 1919), until the newly constructed Parliament House of India in New Delhi (Sansad Bhawan) was inaugurated on 18 January 1927.[1]
The building also housed the Secretariat of the Government of India, and was built after the capital of India shifted to Delhi from Calcutta. The temporary secretariat building was constructed in a few months' time in 1912. It functioned as the Secretariat for another decade, before the offices shifted to the present Secretariat Building on Raisina Hill.[5]
List of assemblies
edit| Assembly | Election year | Speaker | Chief Minister | Party | Opposition Leader | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interim Assembly | 1952 | N/A | Brahm Prakash | Indian National Congress | N/A | Bharatiya Jana Sangh | ||
| Gurmukh Nihal Singh | ||||||||
| State Reorganization | ||||||||
| 1st Assembly | 1993 | Charti Lal Goel | Madan Lal Khurana | Bharatiya Janata Party | Deep Chand Bandhu | Indian National Congress | ||
| Sahib Singh Verma | ||||||||
| Sushma Swaraj | ||||||||
| 2nd Assembly | 1998 | Chaudhary Prem Singh | Sheila Dikshit | Indian National Congress | Madan Lal Khurana | Bharatiya Janata Party | ||
| 3rd Assembly | 2003 | Ajay Maken | Vijay Kumar Malhotra | |||||
| Chaudhary Prem Singh | ||||||||
| 4th Assembly | 2008 | Yoganand Shastri | ||||||
| 5th Assembly | 2013 | Maninder Singh Dhir | Arvind Kejriwal | Aam Aadmi Party | Harsh Vardhan | |||
| 6th Assembly | 2015 | Ram Niwas Goel | Vacant (no opposition with at least 10% seats) | |||||
| 7th Assembly | 2020 | Ramvir Singh Bidhuri | Bharatiya Janata Party | |||||
| Atishi Marlena Singh | Vijender Gupta | |||||||
Office bearers
edit| Office | Holder | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Speaker | Ram Niwas Goel | 14 February 2015 |
| Deputy Speaker | Rakhi Birla | 10 June 2016 |
| Leader of the House (Chief Minister) |
Atishi Marlena Singh | 17 September 2024 |
| Deputy Chief Minister | Vacant[6] | 28 February 2023 |
| Leader of Opposition | Vijender Gupta | 5 August 2024 |
Members of Legislative Assembly
editSee also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d "History of Delhi Legislative Assembly". Legislative Assembly of Delhi website. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
- ^ "Brahm Prakash: Delhi's first CM, ace parliamentarian". Hindustan Times. 27 September 2013. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ^ "Delhi Metropolitan Council(1966–1990)". Delhi Legislative Assembly. Archived from the original on 25 August 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ^ "THE CONSTITUTION (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991". Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
- ^ "Architectural marvels for the new capital". Hindustan Times. 20 July 2011. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014.
- ^ "Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain resign from Delhi Cabinet". Deccan Herald. 28 February 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
- ^ "Raaj Kumar Anand resigns from Delhi cabinet, quits AAP; 'he was scared', says Saurabh Bharadwaj". The Times of India. 10 April 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 11 April 2024.
- ^ "Raghav Chadha resigns as AAP MLA ahead of Rajya Sabha inning". Hindustan Times. 24 March 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ "Kartar Tanwar loses Delhi Assembly membership for switching from AAP to BJP". Deccan Herald. 24 September 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.