Composition of State Legislative Assemblies

Article 170 prescribes the composition of the Legislative Assembly of a state. As a general rule, it must have 60 to 500 members, chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies, subject to special constitutional provisions.

General limits on membership

Under Article 170(1), an Assembly may have no more than 500 members and no fewer than 60 members. These limits apply to the Assembly's directly elected membership.

Allocation of seats and readjustment

The Constitution links Assembly composition to population while seeking broadly equal representation across constituencies.

• Under Article 170(2), each state is divided into territorial constituencies so that, as far as practicable, the population-to-seat ratio is the same throughout the state.
• After each census, the total seats and constituency boundaries may be readjusted by an authority and in the manner determined by Parliament by law.
• A readjustment does not affect the existing Assembly until it is dissolved.
• Until figures of the first census taken after 2026 are published, total seats continue on the 1971-census readjustment basis, while territorial constituencies use the 2001-census readjustment basis.

Special constitutional minima

Special provisions permit certain states to have Assemblies below Article 170's general minimum. The Constitution prescribes minima of 30 members for Sikkim under Article 371F, Arunachal Pradesh under Article 371H and Goa under Article 371I, and 40 members for Mizoram under Article 371G.