TAMIL NADU
The First Legislature of the erstwhile Madras State
under the Constitution of India was constituted on 1st March 1952, after the
first General Elections held in January 1952 on the basis of adult suffrage.
According to the Delimitation of Parliament and Assembly Constituencies
(Madras) Order, 1951 made by the President under section 6 and 9 of the
Representation of the People Act, 1950, the then Composite Madras Assembly
consisted of 375 seats to be filled by election distributed in 309
Constituencies -243 single members Constituencies, 62 double member
Constituencies in each of which a seat had been reserved for Scheduled
Castes and four two-member Constituencies in each of which a seat had been
reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Three seats were uncontested. The elections
were contested only in respect of remaining 372 seats, and one Member was
nominated by the Governor under Article 333 of the Constitution to represent
the Anglo-Indians.
On the 1st October 1953, a separate Andhra State consisting of the Telugu
speaking areas, of the Composite Madras State was formed and the Kannada
speaking area of Bellary District was also merged with the then Mysore State
with effect from the above date and as a consequence, the strength of the
Assembly was reduced to 231. The States Reorganisation Act 1956 came into
effect from the 1st November 1956 and consequently the constituencies in the
erstwhile Malabar districts were merged with the Kerala State and as a
consequence the strength of the Assembly was further reduced to 190. The
Tamil speaking area of Kerala (the present Kanniyakumari District) and
Shencottah taluk were added to Madras State. Subsequently, according to the
new Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 1956,
made by the Delimitation Commission of India under the provisions of the
State Reorganisation Act, 1956, the strength of the Madras Legislative
Assembly was raised to 205 distributed in 167 territorial constituencies, 37
two-member constituencies in each of which a seat had been reserved for
Scheduled Castes and 1 two-member constituency in which a seat had been
reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
The Second Legislative Assembly which was constituted on the 1st April 1957
after the General Elections, held in March 1957 consisted of 205 elected
Members besides one nominated Member. During the term of the Assembly in
1959, as result of the adjustment of boundaries between Andhra Pradesh and
Madras (Alteration of Boundaries) Act, 1959, one member from the Andhra
Pradesh Legislative Assembly was allotted to Madras and consequently the
strength of the Madras Assembly was increased to 206.
During 1961, by the Two-Member Constituencies(Abolition) Act, 1961, the 38
double-member Constituencies were abolished and an equal number of
single-member constituencies were reserved for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes. However, there was no change in the strength of
territorial constituencies in Madras Assembly which had remained as 206.
The Third Assembly was constituted on the 3rd March 1962 after the General
Elections held in February, 1962. The strength of the Assembly continued to
be 206. By the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies
Order, 1965, the number of territorial constituencies in Madras was
increased to 234, out of which forty-two seats were reserved for Scheduled
Castes and two seats for Scheduled Tribes besides one member to be nominated
from the Anglo-Indian Community under Article 333 of the Constitution of
India.
Change in nomenclature.
The Fourth Assembly was constituted on the 1st March 1967 after the General
Elections held in February 1967. It consisted of 234 territorial
Constituencies of which 42 had been reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 2
for Scheduled Tribes besides one nominated Member. During the term of this
Assembly on the 18th July 1967, the House by a resolution unanimously
adopted and recommended that steps be taken by the State Government to
secure necessary amendment to the Constitution of India to change the name
of Madras State as "Tamil Nadu". Accordingly, the Madras State (Alteration
of Name) Act, 1968 (Central Act 53 of 1968) was passed by the Parliament and
came into force on the 14th January 1969. Consequently, the nomenclature
"Madras Legislative Assembly" was changed into "Tamil Nadu Legislative
Assembly".
From 1967 onwards, the strength of the Assembly continued to remain as 234
besides a nominated member.
The Fifth Assembly was constituted on 15th March 1971 after the General
Elections held in March 1971. It consisted of 234 elected members of which
42 seats were reserved for Scheduled Castes and 2 for Scheduled Tribes
besides one nominated member. Before the expiry of the period of the
Assembly, the President by a Proclamation issued on the 31st January 1976,
under article 356 of the Constitution, dissolved the Fifth Assembly and
imposed President's Rule for the first time in Tamil Nadu.
After the General Elections held in June 1977, the Sixth Assembly was
constituted on the 30th June 1977. It consisted of 234 territorial
constituencies as delimited in the order of Delimitation Commission No.31,
dated 1st January 1975 with reference to 1971 Census population figures, of
which 42 seats were reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 2 seats reserved
for Scheduled Tribes. Before the expiry of the period of Assembly, the
President by a Proclamation issued on the 17th February 1980 under Article
356 of the Constitution, dissolved the Sixth Assembly and imposed
President's Rule in Tamil Nadu.
During the year 1979, '157. Uppiliapuram General Constituency' was converted
into '157. Uppiliapuram (S.T.) Constituency' by way of an amendment to the
Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies Order, 1976
(Without altering the extent of any constituency given in such order).
The Seventh Assembly was constituted on the 9th June 1980 after the General
Elections held in May 1980 for the constituencies delimited on the basis of
Census Population of 1971. It consisted of 234 Assembly Constituencies out
of which forty-two seats were reserved for Scheduled Castes and three seats
for Scheduled Tribes.
The Eighth Assembly was constituted on the 16th January 1985 after the
General Elections held on the 24th December 1984. Before the expiry of the
period of Assembly, the President by a proclamation issued on the 30th
January 1988, under Article 356 of the Constitution dissolved the Eighth
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly and imposed President's Rule in Tamil Nadu.
During the term of Eighth Assembly, A Government resolution seeking to
abolish the Legislative Council was moved and adopted by the House on the
14th May 1986.
Thereafter, Tamil Nadu Legislative Council(Abolition) Bill, 1986 was passed
by both the Houses of Parliament and received the assent of the president on
the 30th August 1986. The Act came into force on the 1st November 1986. The
Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was thus abolished with effect from the 1st
November 1986.
The bi-cameral Legislature established in 1937 under the Government of India
Act, 1935 has become a unicameral Legislature in Tamil Nadu from the 1st
November 1986 onwards.
The Ninth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly was constituted on the 27th
January 1989 after the General Elections held on the 21st January 1989.
Before the expiry of the term of the Assembly, the President by a
Proclamation issued on the 30th January 1991, under Article 356 of the
Constitution of India dissolved the Ninth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
and imposed President's Rule in Tamil Nadu.
During the term of the Ninth Assembly a Government Resolution seeking the
revival of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Council was moved and adopted by the
house on the 20th February 1989.
Thereafter, the Legislative Council Bill, 1990 seeking the creation of
Legislative Councils of the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh was introduced in Rajya Sabha on the 10th May 1990 and was considered and passed by the Rajya
Sabha on the 28th May 1990. But the Bill could not be passed by the Lok
Sabha.
The Tenth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly was constituted on the 24th June
1991 after the General Elections held on the 15th June 1991. The First
Meeting of the First Session of the Tenth Legislative Assembly commenced on
the 1st July 1991 and therefore its term would have expired on the 30th June
1996. But in as much as the General Elections to the Eleventh Tamil Nadu
Assembly had been held on the 27th April 1996and 2nd May 1996, the Tenth
Assembly was dissolved on the Forenoon of 13th May 1996 by the Governor.
During the term of the Tenth Assembly, a Government Resolution was adopted
in the Assembly on the 4th October 1991 to rescind the Resolution passed on
the 20th February 1989 for the revival of the Legislative Council in the
State of Tamil Nadu.
The Eleventh Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly was constituted on the 13th May
1996 after the General Elections held on the 27th April 1996 and 2nd
May1996. The First meeting of the First Session of the Eleventh Tamil Nadu
Legislative Assembly commenced on the 22nd May 1996 and the term would
obviously expire on 21st May 2001. But in as much as the General Elections
to the Twelfth Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly had been held on 10th May
2001 the Eleventh Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly was dissolved on the 14th
May 2001, by the Governor.
During the term of the Eleventh Assembly a Government Resolution was moved
and adopted in the Assembly on 26th July, 1996 seeking creation of a
Legislative Council in the Tamil Nadu State. |