State Executive & State Legislature — UPSC GS Paper I
Weightage: 2–3 questions directly, but this chapter's value multiplies because UPSC loves testing it AGAINST the Union chapter — "which of these applies to the Governor but not the President" is a recurring question shape.
1. The Governor — a genuinely different office from the President
Part VI (Articles 152–237) covers state government. Article 153: there shall be a Governor for each state (the 7th Amendment, 1956, allowed one Governor to be appointed for two or more states).
Appointment (Article 155): the Governor is appointed by the President — NOT elected, unlike the President's own election through an Electoral College. This is the single most important structural difference: the Governor is a nominee of the Union, not chosen by any state-level process, which is central to why the office is sometimes politically controversial.
Qualifications: citizen of India, at least 35 years of age. By convention (not a strict legal requirement), Governors are usually appointed from outside the state they govern and are expected to sever party political ties.
Term: 5 years, but holds office "during the pleasure of the President" (Article 156) — meaning the Governor can be removed by the President at any time, with no fixed security of tenure and no impeachment-style process. This is a sharp contrast with the President's own fixed 5-year term and impeachment-only removal.
Dual role of the Governor:
- Constitutional head of the state — acts on the aid and advice of the state Council of Ministers for most functions, mirroring the President's relationship with the Union Council of Ministers (Article 163).
- Agent/representative of the Union — certain functions are performed in the Governor's own discretion, independent of ministerial advice — this is the feature that has no real Presidential parallel and is the single biggest source of Governor-related controversy and UPSC questions.
Discretionary powers of the Governor (situations where the Governor is NOT bound by ministerial advice):
- Reserving a Bill for the President's consideration (Article 200).
- Recommending President's Rule (Article 356) when satisfied that the state government cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution.
- Appointing a Chief Minister when no party has a clear majority (hung assembly) — exercising judgement on who commands the confidence of the House.
- Dismissing a ministry that has lost majority support but refuses to resign, or recommending its dismissal.
- Special discretionary responsibilities in specific states (historically Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim for tribal welfare/law and order matters, and formerly Jammu & Kashmir).
Governor's legislative powers (Article 200): when a Bill passed by the state legislature is presented to the Governor, the Governor may (a) give assent, (b) withhold assent, (c) return the Bill for reconsideration (for non-Money Bills — if repassed, the Governor must give assent), or (d) reserve the Bill for the President's consideration. This fourth option has NO equivalent for the President's own Bill-assent process — it is unique to the Governor.
Governor's pardoning power (Article 161): narrower than the President's — a Governor CANNOT pardon a death sentence (only the President can) and CANNOT pardon a sentence imposed by a court martial (military tribunal, which falls under Union jurisdiction).
2. State Council of Ministers
Mirrors the Union structure closely: Article 163 — Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister to aid and advise the Governor (except in the Governor's discretionary domain). Article 164 — CM appointed by the Governor (conventionally, the leader of the majority party/coalition in the Vidhan Sabha); other ministers appointed by the Governor on the CM's advice; Council collectively responsible to the Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly).
91st Amendment (2003) applies the same 15% cap to state Councils of Ministers too — but with a floor: the minimum size of any state Council of Ministers cannot be less than 12 members (or the total strength of the Assembly if that's smaller than 12, for very small states/UTs with legislatures).
3. State Legislature — Vidhan Sabha and Vidhan Parishad
Unlike Parliament's fixed bicameral structure, states can be unicameral or bicameral — Article 168 allows a state to have just a Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) or both a Legislative Assembly AND a Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad). As of the current structure, only a handful of states have a Legislative Council (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana) — most states are unicameral.
Creating/abolishing a Legislative Council (Article 169): Parliament can create or abolish a state's Legislative Council by a simple majority law, but ONLY IF the concerned state's Legislative Assembly first passes a resolution (by a special majority) requesting it — this is one of the few instances where Parliament legislates on a state matter based on the state's own request.
| Feature | Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) | Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council) |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Directly elected, lower house | Indirectly/partly nominated, upper house — a PERMANENT body like the Rajya Sabha |
| Maximum strength | 500, minimum 60 (with some historical exceptions for small states/UTs) | Cannot exceed 1/3rd of the Vidhan Sabha's strength; minimum 40 |
| Term | 5 years | Permanent body, 1/3rd retire every 2 years (6-year member term, mirroring Rajya Sabha) |
| Composition method | Direct election from territorial constituencies | Mixed: elected by MLAs, local bodies, graduates, teachers; some nominated by the Governor |
| Money Bills | Can ONLY originate here | Cannot originate or amend Money Bills; can only delay by up to 14 days, similar to Rajya Sabha's role |
| Confidence motion | State Council of Ministers responsible ONLY here | No role in confidence/no-confidence motions |
Composition of the Vidhan Parishad where it exists: roughly 1/3rd elected by members of local bodies (municipalities, district boards), 1/12th elected by graduates of at least 3 years' standing residing in the state, 1/12th elected by teachers, 1/3rd elected by members of the Legislative Assembly from among non-members, and the remainder nominated by the Governor for expertise in literature, science, art, cooperative movement or social service.
4. President's Rule (Article 356) — the key Union-State interface
President's Rule (also called "State Emergency" or "Constitutional Emergency") can be imposed when the President, on receipt of a report from the Governor or otherwise, is satisfied that the government of a state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
Effect: the President assumes the functions of the state government and the Governor (or another authority the President designates); the state legislature's powers are exercised by/under Parliament's authority; the state legislature may be suspended or dissolved.
Duration and parliamentary approval: must be approved by both Houses of Parliament within 2 months of issue; once approved, lasts for 6 months, renewable by further parliamentary approval for a maximum of 3 years total (subject to specific additional conditions after the first year, introduced via the 44th Amendment, requiring either a National Emergency to be in operation or the Election Commission certifying that elections cannot be held).
S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994): a landmark case that placed important checks on the President's Rule power — held that the imposition of President's Rule is subject to judicial review, and that the question of whether a ministry has lost its majority should be tested on the floor of the House (not through the Governor's subjective assessment alone). This case significantly curbed the earlier arbitrary/politically-motivated use of Article 356.
Common traps UPSC sets here
- The Governor is APPOINTED by the President, not elected — this is the single most important Governor-vs-President contrast, and forms the basis of "the Governor holds office during the pleasure of the President" (no fixed security of tenure, unlike the President's own impeachment-only removal).
- The Governor's power to "reserve a Bill for the President's consideration" has NO equivalent in the President's own Bill-assent process — the President cannot "reserve" a Bill for anyone else's consideration; this fourth option (beyond assent/withhold/return) is unique to Article 200.
- A Governor CANNOT pardon a death sentence or a court-martial sentence — these remain exclusively with the President (Article 72), even though the Governor otherwise has similar-looking pardoning powers under Article 161 for state-law offences.
- Not all states have a Legislative Council — only a handful currently do (UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana); most states are unicameral, a frequently tested "which states have bicameral legislatures" fact.
- Creating/abolishing a Legislative Council needs the STATE Assembly's request first, then Parliament acts by simple majority — don't assume this needs a constitutional amendment; it's an ordinary law by Parliament, but conditional on the state's own special-majority resolution.
- S.R. Bommai (1994) made President's Rule subject to judicial review and floor-tests — a frequently tested case that curbed earlier misuse; don't assume Article 356's exercise is entirely beyond judicial scrutiny.
- State Money Bills and Legislative Councils mirror the Union pattern but with different named institutions — Vidhan Sabha = Lok Sabha's role, Vidhan Parishad = Rajya Sabha's role, including the identical 14-day Money Bill delay-only power.
Memory aids
- "Pleasure, not fixed tenure" — the Governor holds office "during the pleasure of the President" (Article 156), the opposite of the President's own fixed, impeachment-protected term.
- Governor's four options on a Bill: "AWRR" — Assent, Withhold, Return (non-Money Bills, once), Reserve for President (the option unique to the Governor, no Presidential equivalent).
- States WITH a Legislative Council — "UP Bihar Maha Karnataka Andhra Telangana" — six states, easy to remember as a short, closed list (far easier than memorising which states DON'T have one).
- President's Rule timeline: "2 months to approve, 6 months per renewal, 3 years max" — the numbers climb in a clean, memorable progression.
- S.R. Bommai's core holding: "floor test, not Governor's opinion" — majority must be tested where it actually lives, on the floor of the House.
Exam protocol
- Whenever a question compares a Governor's power to a President's power, check first whether it's the SAME power (most executive functions mirror each other) or a DIFFERENT power (discretionary powers, the "reserve for consideration" option, and the narrower pardoning power are the three biggest divergences).
- For "which states have a Legislative Council" questions, memorise the short six-state list directly rather than trying to recall which states DON'T have one.
- Treat Article 356 (President's Rule) questions as two-part: the PROCEDURAL facts (2 months to approve, 6 months per renewal, 3-year cap) and the JUDICIAL-CHECK facts (S.R. Bommai's floor-test requirement) are tested separately and roughly equally often.
- For legislative process questions at the state level, map every fact back to its Union parallel first (Vidhan Sabha≈Lok Sabha, Vidhan Parishad≈Rajya Sabha) — the state-level rules are almost always the Union rule with the institution names swapped, except for the specific divergences flagged in this chapter's traps section.
