The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council (Telugu: ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్ శాసన మండలి, ISO: Āndhra Pradēś Śāsana Maṇḍali) is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state, Andhra Pradesh. It is situated in the state capital of Amaravati comprising a total of 58 seats. The Sasana Mandali has been in existence in two spells: from 1958 to 1985, and from 2007 continuing till today.
History In the first years since its creation in post-independence India, the state of Andhra Pradesh worked under a unicameral parliamentary system. On 5 December 1956, the Andhra Pradesh Vidhana Sabha passed a resolution calling for the creation of an upper house, the Vidhan Parishad, to transition to a bicameral system. The members of the majority party/coalition in the lower house would be the ruling party of the upper house, regardless of number. The house will have a chairman who conducts day-to-day affairs, rather than a speaker. The Vidhan Parishad was formed officially on 1 July 1958 under article 169 of the Constitution of India. The first President of India, Rajendra Prasad inaugurated the Vidhan Parishad on 8 July 1958.
Abolition in 1985 In the 1980s, Andhra Pradesh became one of the first states to seek the abolition of the upper houses, which were being increasingly criticised as being unnecessary, unrepresentative of the population, a burden on the state budget and causing delays in passing legislation. However, the move was criticised by the opposition's as an attempt by the then-ruling party, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), to deny their main political opposition, the Indian National Congress (I) of influence in the state government and the control of the upper house, which could delay TDP-sponsored legislation and where the TDP held no seats. In accordance with a resolution passed by the Andhra Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, the Indian Parliament abolished the Vidhan Parishad through the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council (Abolition) Act in 1985, after the Congress (I) suffered a major defeat in the state elections in Andhra Pradesh.
Revival in 2007 Subsequent attempts were made to revive the Legislative Council under Chief Minister Marri Chenna Reddy, who belonged to the Congress (I), which had won the state elections in 1989. A resolution to revive the Legislative Council was passed in the Vidhan Sabha on 22 January 1990. The Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, passed legislation authorising the revival of the Legislative Council as per the resolution of the state Vidhan Sabha on 28 May 1990, but the legislation stalled in the lower house, the Lok Sabha, primarily due to its dissolution in 1991 before the completion of its five-year term. The subsequent Lok Sabhas did not take any further decision or action.
After its victory in the 2004 state elections, the Congress-led Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed another resolution on 8 July 2004 calling for the revival of the Legislative Council. This time it was introduced in the Lok Sabha as the Andhra Pradesh Council Bill on 16 December 2004. On 15 December 2005 the Lok Sabha passed the legislation, which was quickly passed by the Rajya Sabha on 20 December, and received the assent of the President on 11 January 2006. The newly revived Legislative Council was constituted on 30 March 2007 and inaugurated on 2 April by Rameshwar Thakur, the Governor of Andhra Pradesh.
Second abolition proposed in 2020 The ruling YSR Congress Party made and passed the resolution for abolition of the Legislative Council in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly on 27 January 2020 to make way for the YSRCP-sponsored capital decentralization bill which has been stalled by the opposition TDP which had majority in the council, as the chairman decided to send the two bills pertaining to the decentralization of the capital that are the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act, 2020 and the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Act, 2020 to a select committee.
The resolution was later withdrawn by the ruling YSRCP as it gained a majority by then in the council making a way to pass it's sponsored bills and with no response from the Parliament of India regarding the decision to abolish the council.
Composition The chairman, elected by the council, presides over the sessions of the council. The deputy chairman is also elected to preside in the chairman's absence.
Presiding officers Designation NameGovernorSyed Abdul NazeerChairpersonKoyye Moshenu Raju(YSRCP)Deputy ChairpersonTumati Madhava Rao(YSRCP)Leader of the House(Chief Minister)N. Chandrababu Naidu(TDP)Leader of the OppositionBotsa Satyanarayana(YSRCP)
Members PartyMembers 33 12 2 1 5Vacant 5 Total58
Members
Elected by Members of the Legislative Assembly (20) Keys:
#MemberPartyTerm startTerm end1P. V. V. Suryanarayana Raju30-Mar-202329-Mar-20292Chandragiri Yesuratnam30-Mar-202329-Mar-20293Bommi Israel30-Mar-202329-Mar-20294Isaac Basha29-Nov-202128-Nov-20275Duvvada Srinivas30-Mar-202129-Mar-20276Devasani Chinna Govinda Reddy29-Nov-202128-Nov-20277Palavalasa Vikranth29-Nov-202128-Nov-20278Mohammed Ruhulla21-Mar-202229-Mar-20279Kavali Greeshma30-Mar-202529-Mar-203110Beedha Ravichandra30-Mar-202529-Mar-203111Bendula Thirumala Naidu30-Mar-202529-Mar-203112Panchumarthi Anuradha30 Mar 202329-Mar-202913 Chennamsetty Ramachandraiah08-Jul-202429-Mar-202714Konidela Nagendra Rao30-Mar-202529-Mar-203115 Pidugu Hariprasad08-Jul-202429-Mar-202716Somu Veerraju30-Mar-202529-Mar-203117Vacant since 19-Mar-202529-Mar-202918Vacant since 28-Aug-202429-Mar-202919Vacant since 23-Nov-202429-Mar-202920Vacant since 30-Aug-202429-Mar-2027
Elected from Local Authorities constituencies (20) Keys: # ConstituencyMember Party Term start Term end1ChitoorCipai Subramanyam02-May-202301-May-20292East GodavariKudupudi Suryanarayana Rao02-May-202301-May-20293KurnoolAlampur Madhusudhan02-May-202301-May-20294SrikakulamNarthu Ramarao02-May-202301-May-20295NelloreMeriga Muralidhar02-May-202301-May-20296West GodavariKavuru Srinivasa Rao02-May-202301-May-20297West GodavariVanka Raveendranath02-May-202301-May-20298AnantapurSanipalli Mangamma30 Mar 202329-Mar-20299KadapaPonnapureddy Rama Subba Reddy30 Mar 202329-Mar-202910AnantapurYellareddygari Sivarami Reddy2-Dec-20211-Dec-202711ChitoorK. R. J. Bharath2-Dec-20211-Dec-202712East GodavariAnanta Satya Udaya Bhaskar2-Dec-20211-Dec-202713GunturMurugudu Hanumantha Rao2-Dec-20211-Dec-202714GunturUmmareddy Venkateswarlu2-Dec-20211-Dec-202715KrishnaMonditoka Arunkumar2-Dec-20211-Dec-202716KrishnaTalasila Raghuram2-Dec-20211-Dec-202717PrakasamTumati Madhava Rao2-Dec-20211-Dec-202718VisakhapatnamVarudu Kalyani2-Dec-20211-Dec-202719Visakhapatnam Botsa Satyanarayana21-Aug-20241-Dec-202720Vizianagaram Indukuri Raghu Raju02-Dec-20211-Dec-2027
Elected from Graduates constituencies (5) Keys: # ConstituencyMember PartyTerm start Term end 1Srikakulam–Vizianagaram–Visakhapatnam Vepada Chiranjeevi Rao30-Mar-202329-Mar-2029 2Prakasam–Nellore–Chittoor Kancharla Srikanth30-Mar-202329-Mar-2029 3Kadapa–Anantapur–Kurnool Bhumireddy Rama Gopal Reddy30-Mar-202329-Mar-2029 4 East Godavari–West Godavari Perabathula Rajasekharam30-Mar-202529-Mar-2031 5 Krishna–Guntur Alapati Rajendra Prasad30-Mar-202529-Mar-2031
Elected from Teachers constituencies (5) Keys: # ConstituencyMember PartyTerm start Term end 1Prakasam–Nellore–Chittoor Parvathareddy Chandra Sekhar ReddyIND30-Mar-2023 29-Mar-2029 2 Kadapa–Anantapur–Kurnool M. V. Rama Chandra ReddyIND30-Mar-2023 29-Mar-2029 3 East Godavari–West Godavari Borra Gopi MurthyIND09-Dec-202429-Mar-2027 4 Krishna–Guntur Tamatam KalpalathaIND30-Mar-2021 29-Mar-2027 5 Srikakulam–Vizianagaram–Visakhapatnam Gade Srinivasulu NaiduIND30-Mar-202529-Mar-2031
Nominated by Governor (8) Keys:
#Member PartyTerm startTerm end 1 Kumbha Ravibabu 10-Aug-2023 09-Aug-2029 2Vacant since 30-Aug-202409-Aug-2029 3 Rajagolla Ramesh Yadav 16-Jun-202115-Jun-2027 4 Koyye Moshenu Raju 16-Jun-202115-Jun-2027 5 Lella Appi Reddy 16-Jun-202115-Jun-2027 6 Thota Trimurthulu 16-Jun-202115-Jun-2027 7 Varla Ramaiah 19-Aug-2026 18-Aug-2032 8 Vadde Dalavayi Ramadevi 19-Aug-2026 18-Aug-2032
See also Elections in Andhra Pradesh List of chairpersons of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council
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