West Bengal Legislative Council
West Bengal Legislative Council পশ্চিমবঙ্গ বিধান পরিষদ | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 1952 |
| Disbanded | 1 August 1969 |
| Preceded by | Bengal Legislative Council (British India) |
| Succeeded by | West Bengal Legislative Assembly |
| Seats | 51 (1952-57), 75(1957-69) |
| Elections | |
| Indirect election | |
Last election | 1967 |
| Meeting place | |
| Legislative Council Chamber, Kolkata | |
The West Bengal Legislative Council was the upper house of the bicameral legislature in the Indian state of West Bengal, existing from 1952 to 1969. It was constituted under Article 168 of the Constitution of India to serve as a reviewing chamber for legislation passed by the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.[1]
List of Members of Legislative Council Members
[edit]Members of 1957
[edit]| No. | Member | Method of election |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abdul Halim, Janab | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 2 | Abdur Rashid, Janab Mirza | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 3 | Dr. Narendranath Bagchi | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 4 | Tarakdas Bandopadhyaya, Sj. | Nadia–Murshidabad (Local Authorities) |
| 5 | Sunil Kumar Banerjee, Sj. | Hooghly–Howrah (Local Authorities) |
| 6 | Tara Sankar Banerjee, Sj. | Nominated |
| 7 | Sankar Das Banerji, Sj. | Nominated |
| 8 | Gurugobinda Basu, Sj. | Nominated |
| 9 | Nagendra Kumar Bhattacharyya, Sj. | Nadia–Murshidabad (Local Authorities) |
| 10 | Nirmal Chandra Bhattacharyya, Sj. | Calcutta (Graduates) |
| 11 | Ram Kumar Bhuwalka, Sj. | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 12 | Dr. Monindra Mohan Chakrabarty | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 13 | Hridoy Bhusan Chakravarty, Sj. | Calcutta–24-Parganas (Local Authorities) |
| 14 | Devaprasad Chatterjee, Sj. | Calcutta–24-Parganas (Local Authorities) |
| 15 | Krishna Kumar Chatterjee, Sj. | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 16 | Dr. Sunit Kumar Chattopadhyay | West Bengal South (Graduates) |
| 17 | K. P. Chattopadhyay, Sj. | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 18 | Annada Prasad Choudhuri, Sj. | Burdwan Division North (Local Authorities) |
| 19 | Sikta Santi Das | Nominated |
| 20 | Narasingha Malla Ugal Sanda Deb, Sj. | Nominated |
| 21 | Sikta Anila Debi | Presidency Division North (Teachers) |
| 22 | Sikta Labanyaprova Dutt | Nominated |
| 23 | Kamini Kumar Ghose, Sj. | Calcutta (Teachers) |
| 24 | Ashutosh Ghosh, Sj. | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 25 | Dr. Pratap Chandra Guha Ray | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 26 | Manoranjan Gupta, Sj. | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 27 | Charu Chandra Mahanty, Sj. | Burdwan Division North (Local Authorities) |
| 28 | Sudhirendra Nath Majumdar, Sj. | Calcutta–24-Parganas (Local Authorities) |
| 29 | Sachindra Nath Misra, Sj. | West Bengal North (Local Authorities) |
| 30 | Mohammad Jan, Janab Shaikh | Nominated |
| 31 | Mohammad Sayeed Mia, Janab | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 32 | Kamala Charan Mookerjee, Sj. | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 33 | Kali Pada Mookerjee, Sj. | Calcutta–24-Parganas (Local Authorities) |
| 34 | Kamada Kinkar Mukherjee, Sj. | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 35 | Musharruf Hossain, Janab | Nominated |
| 36 | Bijoy Singh Nahar, Sj. | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 37 | R. S. Prasad, Sj. | Darjeeling (Local Authorities) |
| 38 | Lakshman Pradhan, Sj. | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 39 | Mohitosh Rai Choudhuri, Sj. | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 40 | Chittaranjan Roy, Sj. | |
| 41 | Satya Priya Roy, Sj. | Presidency Division South (Teachers) |
| 42 | Surendra Kumar Roy, Sj. | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 43 | Jogindralal Saha, Sj. | Calcutta–24-Parganas (Local Authorities) |
| 44 | Charu Chandra Sanyal, Sj. | West Bengal North (Graduates) |
| 45 | Pannalal Sarafogi, Sj. | Nominated |
| 46 | Pranabeswar Sarkar, Sj. | Burdwan Division North (Local Authorities) |
| 47 | Sarat Chandra Sawoo, Sj. | Calcutta–24-Parganas (Local Authorities) |
| 48 | Prafulla Chandra Sen, Sj. | Hooghly–Howrah (Local Authorities) |
| 49 | Manoranjan Sen Gupta, Sj. | Burdwan Division (Teachers) |
| 50 | Biman Behari Lal Singha, Sj. | Burdwan Division North (Local Authorities) |
| 51 | Rabindralal Sinha, Sj. | Hooghly–Howrah (Local Authorities) |
Members of 1967
[edit]| No. | Member | Method of election |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abdul Bari Biswas | Murshidabad (Local Authorities) |
| 2 | Md. Abdullah Rasul | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 3 | Snehangshu Kanta Acharyya | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 4 | Nirmalya Bagchi | West Bengal South-West (Graduates) |
| 5 | Dr. Anil Chandra Banerjee | Nominated |
| 6 | Monmotho Nath Banerjee | 24-Parganas (Local Authorities) |
| 7 | Nandalal Banerjee | Calcutta (Local Authorities) |
| 8 | Sudhir Kumar Banerjee | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 9 | Upendranath Barman | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 10 | Dhirendra Nath Bhattacharyya | Purulia (Local Authorities) |
| 11 | Dr. Janaki Ballabha Bhattacharyya | 24-Parganas (Local Authorities) |
| 12 | Nirmal Chandra Bhattacharyya | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 13 | Santosh Kumar Bhattacharyya | West Bengal South-East (Teachers) |
| 14 | Promotho Nath Basu | Nominated |
| 15 | Nirmal Bose | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 16 | Naren Chakrabarty | Malda (Local Authorities) |
| 17 | Amar Prasad Chakrabarty | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 18 | Byomkesh Chakravarti | West Dinajpur (Local Authorities) |
| 19 | Rajkumar Chakraverty | 24-Parganas (Teachers) |
| 20 | Jatin Chakravarty | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 21 | Ava Chatterjee | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 22 | Lalit Mohan Chatterjee | Howrah (Local Authorities) |
| 23 | Narendra Nath Das | Calcutta (Graduates) |
| 24 | Santi Das | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 25 | Anila Debi | Calcutta (Teachers) |
| 26 | Kumar Dutt | Calcutta (Local Authorities) |
| 27 | Sukumar Dutta | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 28 | Dr. Esmail Ebrahim | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 29 | Biswaratan Ganguly | Howrah (Local Authorities) |
| 30 | Bibhuti Bhusan Ghatak | Bankura (Local Authorities) |
| 31 | Kali Charan Ghose | Hooghly (Local Authorities) |
| 32 | Nanda Kishore Ghose | Calcutta (Graduates) |
| 33 | Pijush Chandra Ghosh | 24-Parganas (Local Authorities) |
| 34 | Ashutosh Ghosh | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 35 | Dr. Rudranath Ghosh | Burdwan (Local Authorities) |
| 36 | Dr. Sarala Ghosh | Nominated |
| 37 | Dr. Pratap Chandra Guha Ray | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 38 | Manoranjan Gupta | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 39 | Nar Bahadur Gurung | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 40 | Gopal Haldar | Calcutta (Graduates) |
| 41 | Rebati Raman Manna | West Bengal South-East (Graduates) |
| 42 | Ramdas Ramanujdas Mohanta | Midnapore (Local Authorities) |
| 43 | Mohiuddin Ahmed Hazi | Nominated |
| 44 | Dhirendra Nath Moitra | Jalpaiguri (Local Authorities) |
| 45 | Dhajadhari Mondal | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 46 | Kedar Nath Mookerjee | Nominated |
| 47 | Bamandas Mukherjee | Burdwan (Local Authorities) |
| 48 | Biswanath Mukherjee | Elected by M.L.As. (Calcutta) |
| 49 | Biswanath Mukherjee | Elected by M.L.As. (Midnapore) |
| 50 | Sudhindra Nath Mukherjee | Hooghly (Local Authorities) |
| 51 | Debendra Kumar Mukhopadhyay | Birbhum (Local Authorities) |
| 52 | Barada Mukutmoni | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 53 | Amalendu Sekhar Naskar | 24-Parganas (Local Authorities) |
| 54 | Sudhir Chandra Niyogi | Cooch Behar (Local Authorities) |
| 55 | Dr. Ras Behari Pal | Midnapore (Local Authorities) |
| 56 | Makhan Paul | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 57 | R. S. Prasad | Darjeeling (Local Authorities) |
| 58 | Rezaul Karim | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 59 | Dr. Biswaranjan Roy | Nadia (Local Authorities) |
| 60 | Chittaranjan Roy | Midnapore (Local Authorities) |
| 61 | Satya Priya Roy | Calcutta (Teachers) |
| 62 | Dr. Charu Chandra Sanyal | West Bengal North (Graduates) |
| 63 | Gobindalal Saraogi | Nominated |
| 64 | Dhanum Chand Sarawgi | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 65 | Reba Sen | Nominated |
| 66 | Subodh Sen | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 67 | Manoranjan Sen Gupta | West Bengal South-West (Teachers) |
| 68 | Rabindranath Sikdar | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 69 | Ram Lagan Singh | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 70 | Jatindra Singha | West Bengal North (Teachers) |
| 71 | Durgapada Sinha | Murshidabad (Local Authorities) |
| 72 | Rabindralal Sinha | Elected by M.L.As. |
| 73 | Amulya Chandra Sirkar | Calcutta (Local Authorities) |
History
[edit]Colonial predecessor
[edit]The Council had a predecessor in the Bengal Legislative Council during the British colonial period, which functioned under the Government of India Act, 1935.[2]
Formation (1952)
[edit]Following independence, the Legislative Council was officially formed in 1952 to provide broader representation and a check on hasty legislation. Members were elected or nominated from various constituencies including local bodies, graduates, and teachers.[3]
Abolition (1969)
[edit]On 21 March 1969, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly passed a resolution seeking the Council’s abolition under Article 169 of the Constitution. The Indian Parliament approved the request, and the Council was dissolved on 1 August 1969.[4]
Composition and structure
[edit]The Council was a permanent body not subject to dissolution, with one-third of its members retiring every two years. Its membership ranged from 40 to 78.[5]
Categories of membership
[edit]- One-third elected by Legislative Assembly members
- One-third elected by local authorities
- One-twelfth elected by teachers
- One-twelfth elected by graduates
- Remainder nominated by the Governor of West Bengal[1]
Powers and limitations
[edit]The Council had limited legislative powers. It could:
- Recommend amendments to legislation
- Delay ordinary bills for up to four months
- Debate public matters in detail
It could not:
- Introduce or amend money bills
- Permanently block any legislation[3]
Chairmen of the Council
[edit]| Name | Term | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Habib-ur-Rehman Khan | 1952–1958 | First Chairman of the Council |
| Syed Nurul Hasan | 1960–1964 | Later Governor of West Bengal |
| Bibhuti Bhusan Das | 1965–1969 | Final presiding officer before abolition |
Architecture and premises
[edit]The Council chamber was located in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly complex in Kolkata. It featured a semi-circular design inspired by the Rajya Sabha. After the Council was dissolved, the chamber was used for other administrative purposes.[4]
Criticism and controversy
[edit]Critics viewed the Council as redundant and costly. It was often referred to as a "political rehabilitation chamber" for individuals who failed to win elections to the Assembly.[2]
Revival attempts
[edit]In July 2021, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly passed a resolution calling for the Council's revival.[6] As of 2026, the Indian Parliament has not yet approved the proposal. The resolution lapsed on expiry of 17th West Bengal Assembly session.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 Constitution of India – Articles 168 and 169. Government of India. Available at: https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india
- 1 2 Indian Political Review, Vol. XII, 1971. "The Role and Relevance of State Legislative Councils." Institute of Political Studies, New Delhi.
- 1 2 PRS Legislative Research. "Legislative Councils in India."
- 1 2 West Bengal Legislative Assembly Debates. March 1969. Published by the Assembly Secretariat, Government of West Bengal.
- ↑ National Portal of India – "State Legislature: Composition and Functioning."
- ↑ "West Bengal Assembly passes resolution to reintroduce Legislative Council." The Hindu, 6 July 2021.
