West Bengal had a two-House or a bicameral system of legislature till it was abolished by the United Front government in 1969. Setting up a Legislative Council was one of the promises in the TMC’s poll manifesto 2021.
The West Bengal government has decided to set up a Legislative Council, or a Vidhan Parishad – the Upper House of state legislature and the decision was taken on May 17 during the virtual Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
As per the norm, to create or to abolish a state legislative council, the state Legislative Assembly must pass a resolution, which must be supported by majority of the strength of the House. The Trinamool Congress won the recently-concluded assembly elections by bagging 213 seats of the state’s 292 seats that went to polls. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 77.
CM Banerjee and Bengal’s Finance Minister Amit Mitra are currently not members of the Legislative Assembly and thus can be nominated to the Council once it is established. In that case, the leaders will not be required to get elected to the Assembly.
