Maharashtra Legislative Council are slated to be held on May 21. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and eight other candidates in the fray are set to get elected to the Upper House unopposed.
While an MLA, MP or even a corporator needs no introduction, MLC and its job description are not generally spoken about. This article will help in understanding the difference between an MLC and MLA. The simple difference is: MLA represents Lower House of the state Assembly, while MLC represents Upper House of the state Assembly. MLA, a Member of Legislative Assembly, is directly elected by the people, while a MLC, Member of Legislative Council, is elected by the Lower House.
Indian polity is federal in nature with a central government and elected governments at state levels also. At both, Centre and State, there are two houses of legislature. At the centre, they are called Rajya Sabha (Upper House) and Lok Sabha (Lower House). On similar lines are Vidhan Sabha (Lower House) and Vidhan Parishad (Upper House) at the state level. Elected representatives of Vidhan Sabha are called MLA while those nominated to Vidhan Parishad are called MLC.
MLA stands for Member of Legislative Assembly and is an elected representative of the constituency from where he fights election and is elected by the people. While MLAs from ruling party propose bills, they are deliberated upon by MLCs just as they are reviewed by members of Rajya Sabha at the Centre.
Maharashtra Legislative Council consists at present has 82 seats from which 64 are elected, 11 are nominated by the Maharashtra Governor and four seats are vacant.
It is a continuous House and not subject to dissolution. However, one-third of its members retire every second year and are replaced by new members. The new members enjoy a tenure of six years. The members of the Vidhan Parishad elect its chairman and deputy chairman.
