Bihar Legislative Council

Bihar Legislative Council
Type
Type	Upper house of the Bihar Legislature
Term limits	6 years
Leadership
Chairman (Acting)	Mohammad Haroon Rashid, JD(U) Since 9 May 2017
Deputy Chairman	Mohammad Haroon Rashid, JD(U) Since 5 August 2015
Leader of the House (Chief Minister)	Nitish Kumar, JD(U) Since 27 July 2017
Deputy Leader of the House (Deputy Chief Minister)	Sushil Kumar Modi, BJP Since 27 July 2017
Government's Chief Whip	Sanjay Kumar Singh, JD(U) Since 27 July 2017
Government's Deputy Chief Whip	Rajnish Kumar, BJP Since 27 July 2017
Leader of the Opposition	Rabri Devi, RJD Since 12 May 2018
Structure
Seats	75 (63 + 12 Nominated)
Political groups	NDA Government (57)      JD(U) (32)      BJP (22)      LJP (2)      RLSP (1) Opposition (18)      RJD (9)      INC (3)      CPI (2)      HAM(Se) (1)      Independent (3)
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
Meeting place
Bihar Legislative Council, Patna, Bihar, India
Website
http://www.biharvidhanparishad.gov.in

Bihar Vidhan Parishad, also known as Bihar Legislative Council, is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the state of Bihar in India.

History

A new Province of Bihar and Odisha was created by the British Government on 12 December 1911. The Legislative Council with a total of 43 members belonging to different categories was formed in 1912. The first sitting of the Council was convened on 20 January 1913. In 1936, Bihar attained its separate Statehood. Under the Government of India Act, 1919, the unicameral legislature got converted into bicameral one, i.e., the Bihar Legislative Council and the Bihar Legislative Assembly. Under the Government of India Act, 1935, the Bihar Legislative Council consisted of 29 members. After the first General Elections 1952, the number of members was increased up to 72 and by 1958 the number was raised to 96. With the creation of Jharkhand, as a result of the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000 passed by the Parliament, the strength of the Bihar Legislative Council has been reduced from 96 to 75 members. Some veteran council members B. P. Mandal, Jagannath Mishra, Satyendra Narain Singh and Lalu Prasad Yadav have also served as Chief Minister of Bihar.

Working

Bihar Legislative Council is a permanent body and not subject to dissolution. But as nearly as possible, one-third of the members thereof retire as soon as may be on the expiration of every second year. Members are now elected or nominated for six years and one-third of them retire every second year. The presiding officers of Vidhan Parishad are now known as Chairman and Deputy Chairman. Members of the upper house, the Legislative Council are indirectly elected through an electoral college. There are 27 Committees which are, at present, functional in the Council. Besides, there are three Financial Committees consisting of the members of the two Houses of the State Legislature.

Current members

• Chairman (Acting) : Mohammad Haroon Rashid
• Deputy Chairman : Mohammad Haroon Rashid
• Leader of the House : Nitish Kumar
• Deputy Leader of the House : Sushil Kumar Modi
• Government's Chief Whip : Sanjay Kumar Singh
• Government's Deputy Chief Whip : Rajnish Kumar
• Leader of the Opposition : Rabri Devi

See also

• Vidhan Parishad
• Administration in Bihar
• List of states of India by type of legislature

External links

• Official Website

References