The Indian Constitution provides for a legislature in every state. All 28 states and the Union Territories (UTs) of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry have legislative assemblies. Six states (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh) also have a second House, the Legislative Council.
Legislatures have three primary responsibilities: discussing and passing Bills, scrutinising and approving government finances, and holding the government accountable. In 2025, state legislatures passed more than 600 Bills and scrutinised their state budgets. This report analyses the working of the legislatures of 27 states and three union territories in 2025. Manipur was under President’s Rule from February 13, 2025 to February 4, 2026, and the legislature did not meet in 2025.
This analysis is based on data obtained from state legislatures, state gazettes, and responses to Right to Information (RTI) requests. A detailed note on sources and methodology is available on page 23.
The following abbreviations are used for state Assemblies in the charts throughout the report.
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State |
Abbreviation |
State |
Abbreviation |
State |
Abbreviation |
|
Andhra Pradesh |
AP |
Jammu and Kashmir |
JK |
Punjab |
PB |
|
Arunachal Pradesh |
AR |
Karnataka |
KA |
Rajasthan |
RJ |
|
Assam |
AS |
Kerala |
KL |
Sikkim |
SK |
|
Bihar |
BR |
Madhya Pradesh |
MP |
Tamil Nadu |
TN |
|
Chhattisgarh |
CG |
Maharashtra |
MH |
Telangana |
TG |
|
Delhi |
DL |
Manipur |
MN |
Tripura |
TR |
|
Goa |
GA |
Meghalaya |
MG |
Uttarakhand |
UK |
|
Gujarat |
GJ |
Mizoram |
MZ |
Uttar Pradesh |
UP |
|
Haryana |
HR |
Nagaland |
NL |
West Bengal |
WB |
|
Himachal Pradesh |
HP |
Odisha |
OD |
|
|
|
Jharkhand |
JH |
Puducherry |
PY |
|
|
Contents
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Section |
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Functioning of State Legislatures |
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Legislation by Subject |
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Note on Sources and Methodology |
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Appendix 1 – List of Bills passed by States in 2025, which have received assent |
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Appendix 2 – List of Bills passed by States in 2025 and not assented |
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Appendix 3 – List of Ordinances issued by States in 2025 |
FUNCTIONING OF STATE LEGISLATURES
The Constitution of India provides for a legislature in every state, as well as in the Union Territories of Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Puducherry. These legislatures are composed of representatives elected by the people and perform three core functions: introduce, scrutinise, and pass Bills that become laws; hold the government accountable through instruments such as questions and motions; and examine public finances, including the discussion and approval of the annual budget. In 2025, State Legislative Assemblies met for an average of 24 days, marking a marginal increase from 21 days in 2024; and 23 days in 2023. During this period, these legislatures collectively passed over 600 Bills.
In 2025, state assemblies met for 24 days on average
State Assemblies sat for 24 days on average, ranging from Nagaland where the Assembly met for seven days in the year to 43 days in Odisha. Some states have established minimum targets for annual sitting days, either through legislation or the Rules governing their procedures. Barring Himachal Pradesh, no state met its prescribed target.
Figure 1: Total sitting days across states and mandated sitting days for certain states
Note: Data for Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim was not available. Manipur was under President’s Rule.
Sources: Assembly websites of various states; RTI; PRS.
Assemblies met just enough to meet Constitutional requirements
The Constitution requires that no more than six months pass between two sittings of a State Assembly. All states met this requirement in 2025. In several cases, this was achieved with states meeting just enough to meet this requirement. For example, Assam convened a one-day session in June, between the March and November sessions. Gujarat, after adjourning in March, met for three days in September. In Rajasthan, the gap between two sessions was five months and eight days, while in Meghalaya, the interval was five months and 26 days. Most sittings occur in the first quarter of the year, when states meet to discuss and pass their budget.
Table 1: Distribution of sittings across the year
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|
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
|
AP |
2 |
13 |
8 |
|||||||||
|
AS |
4 |
11 |
1 |
5 |
||||||||
|
BR |
1 |
17 |
5 |
5 |
||||||||
|
CG |
4 |
14 |
5 |
1 |
4 |
|||||||
|
DL |
4 |
6 |
2 |
5 |
||||||||
|
GA |
2 |
3 |
9 |
6 |
1 |
|||||||
|
GJ |
7 |
18 |
3 |
|||||||||
|
HR |
12 |
4 |
4 |
|||||||||
|
HP |
15 |
10 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
|||||||
|
JK |
18 |
4 |
6 |
|||||||||
|
JH |
4 |
16 |
6 |
5 |
||||||||
|
KA |
15 |
9 |
10 |
|||||||||
|
KL |
5 |
5 |
12 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
||||||
|
MP |
9 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
||||||||
|
MH |
16 |
1 |
14 |
7 |
||||||||
|
MG |
1 |
9 |
5 |
|||||||||
|
MZ |
2 |
12 |
2 |
|||||||||
|
NL |
5 |
2 |
||||||||||
|
OD |
8 |
16 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
8 |
||||||
|
PY |
1 |
13 |
1 |
|||||||||
|
PB |
6 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
||||||
|
RJ |
1 |
11 |
12 |
6 |
||||||||
|
TN |
5 |
12 |
18 |
4 |
||||||||
|
TG |
11 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
||||||||
|
TR |
3 |
6 |
1 |
2 |
||||||||
|
UP |
7 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
||||||||
|
UK |
5 |
2 |
3 |
|||||||||
|
WB |
7 |
8 |
12 |
3 |
Note: Data for Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim was not available. Manipur was under President’s Rule.
Sources: Assembly websites of various states; RTI; PRS.
Some states had long sessions, with the House not being prorogued
Parliament, as well as most states usually hold three sessions every year: Budget, Monsoon, and Winter. Each session starts after summons by the Governor, and ends when it is prorogued by the Governor. In both cases the Governor acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers. In some states such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Punjab, the sessions lasted a long period (Figure 2). The West Bengal session which started in 2023, continued into 2026. As sessions were not prorogued, this meant that the Speaker could call for a sitting without requiring summons by the Governor.
Figure 2: Duration of the longest session across Assemblies in 2025
Note: Session length is calculated from the session's start and end dates. In West Bengal, the Assembly session that started in 2023 continued into 2026.
Sources: Assembly websites of various states; RTI; PRS.
Average number of sitting days improve marginally, yet remain fairly low
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The average number of sittings for state assemblies increased from 21 days in 2024 to 24 days in 2025, marking the highest annual average in the past five years. Between 2021 and 2025, Kerala recorded the highest average sitting days at 41, followed by Odisha at 39 and Karnataka at 37. The lowest average number of sittings was recorded by Nagaland at eight days and Tripura at nine days. |
Figure 3: Average Sittings of Assemblies
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Sources: Assembly websites of various states; RTI; PRS. |
Assemblies met for an average of 133 hours during the year
On average, state assemblies met for 133 hours, and there was a wide variation in sitting duration across states. Maharashtra met for nine hours per sitting while West Bengal met for three hours. Several states have prescribed daily sitting durations in their Rules. While some states like Maharashtra, Telangana and Goa exceeded the prescribed sitting hours, others like Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, and Punjab fell short.
Figure 4: Average Duration of Assembly Sittings (Hours per Sitting)
Note: Sitting hours were not available for Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Puducherry. Manipur was under President’s Rule.
Sources: Assembly websites of various states; RTI; PRS.
Legislative Councils met for the same or fewer days as the corresponding Assembly
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Figure 5: Sittings in Assemblies and Councils
Note: Data not available for Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. |
Six states have bicameral legislatures, consisting of a Legislative Assembly and a Legislative Council. In 2025, Legislative Councils met for an average of 26 days, ranging from 11 days in Telangana to 38 days in Maharashtra. |
States passed 22 Bills on average
State legislatures passed over 600 Bills in 2025, an increase from about 500 Bills passed in 2024. Karnataka passed the highest number of Bills (84) in 34 sitting days. Assam passed 60 Bills in 21 sitting days.
Figure 6: Number of Bills passed by State Assemblies in 2025
Sources: Assembly websites of various states; RTI; PRS.
30% of the Bills were passed on the day they were introduced
Seven Assemblies, namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Puducherry and Punjab, passed all Bills either on the day of introduction or the very next day. States that passed a higher number of Bills often passed many of them in a single sitting. Karnataka passed 17 Bills in one sitting and 12 in another, while Assam passed 14 Bills in a single sitting.
Figure 7: Time taken by Assemblies to pass Bills
Note: The time taken for passage has been calculated from the date of introduction to the date of passage in the House where the Bill was introduced. In the case of Maharashtra, nine Bills were introduced in the Legislative Council; the passage time for these Bills has been calculated using the date of passage in the Council and Assembly.
Sources: Assembly websites of various states; RTI; PRS.
Few Bills were referred to Committees
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Figure 8: Percentage of Bills referred to Committee
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State legislatures constitute Committees to enable detailed scrutiny of Bills and oversight of government expenditure. Committees examine provisions of Bills, assess their implications, and may seek inputs from experts and stakeholders before presenting recommendations to the House. Referral of Bills to Committees is not mandatory. In 2025, in the six states for which data was available, only 5% of Bills introduced were referred to committees. |
Of all the Bills referred to Committees, reports for 90% have been tabled so far
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Figure 9: Time taken by Committees to present reports
Sources: Assembly websites of various states; RTI; PRS. |
Kerala referred 25 Bills to subject Committees. All Committee reports were tabled within a month, of which 13 were tabled within a day. In Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, one Bill each was referred to a Select Committee, but neither report has been tabled yet. In Rajasthan, reports on three Bills that were referred to Committees were submitted after over a month. Karnataka and Goa each referred two Bills to Select Committees; in both states, only one report has been presented so far, and each report took more than a month. |
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The role of Committees in legislative process In 2025, the Goa Legislative Assembly referred the Goa Outdoor Advertisement (Regulation and Control) Bill, 2025 to a Select Committee. The Committee noted that while the Bill’s preamble referred only to hoardings, several provisions extended to a broader range of outdoor advertisements. It recommended narrowing the scope of the Bill, revising the illustrative list of devices to focus on hoardings, and clarifying the penal provisions.[1]. These recommendations were incorporated, and the legislation was subsequently enacted as the Goa Hoardings (Regulation and Control) Act, 2025. In Rajasthan, three Bills were referred to Select Committees: the Rajasthan Ground Water (Conservation and Management) Authority Bill, 2024, the Rajasthan Land Revenue (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2025, and the Rajasthan Coaching Centres (Control and Regulation) Bill, 2025. In all three cases, the Committees recommended amendments to the Bills. [2],[3] The Assembly passed the Bills as reported. |
66% of the Bills received Governor’s assent within a month of passing
For a Bill to become an Act, it must receive the assent of the Governor or the President. In 2025, 66% of Bills received assent within one month of being passed by the state legislature, while around 6% took more than three months to receive assent. In 2024, 60% of Bills received assent within a month.
Seven states, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, saw all Bills receive assent within one month of passage. About half the Bills in Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand took more than three months to get assent.
Figure 10: Time taken for Bills to receive Assent
Note: For bicameral legislatures, assent time has been calculated from the date of the Bill’s final passage, i.e., the date on which it was passed by the second House. As the Council passing dates are not available for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, assent time for these states has been calculated using the Assembly passing date.
Sources: Assembly websites of various states; RTI; PRS.
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Supreme court prescribes timelines for Governor’s assent to Bills, President seeks clarification The Constitution gives Governors three options on a Bill: assent, return it, or reserve it for the President, with no prescribed timelines. Between 2022 and 2024, three states - Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and West Bengal- approached courts over Governors not taking any action.[4],[5] Tamil Nadu's case concerned 12 Bills pending since 2020 to 2023. Following a Supreme Court notice, the Governor returned 10 bills; the legislature re-passed them, but the Governor then reserved them for the President.[6] In November 2023, the Supreme Court took up Tamil Nadu's petition on gubernatorial inaction. In April 2025, the Court ruled that Governors must act on Bills within set timelines, fixing one month for assent or return, and three months for reservation for the President. Invoking Article 142, the Court declared all 10 Tamil Nadu Bills deemed assented as of November, 2023. The President then referred 14 questions to the Supreme Court under Article 143 in May 2025. The reference asked whether courts could impose timelines on Governors and the President, whether deemed assent was constitutionally valid, and whether courts could intervene before a Bill became law. In November 2025, a five-judge Constitutional Bench delivered its advisory opinion.[7] It held that courts cannot impose timelines on the President or Governors, and that deemed assent is unconstitutional. Gubernatorial and presidential decisions under Articles 200 and 201 are not judicially reviewable before a Bill becomes law. However, the Bench held that indefinite inaction is impermissible. Courts may direct a Governor to act in cases of prolonged, unexplained delay, though they cannot dictate the outcome. The Governor's three options remain: assent, return with reasons, or reserve for the President. The 10 Tamil Nadu Bills retained their legal validity. |
127 Ordinances were issued, an increase from the previous year
Under Article 213 of the Constitution, the Governor of a state may issue Ordinances when the Assembly is not in session. Ordinances have the force of law but are temporary and must be approved by the legislature within six weeks of its next meeting. In 2025, 127 ordinances were promulgated. This marks an increase from 100 Ordinances issued in 2024. Karnataka and Meghalaya issued more Ordinances than in 2024, while Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra recorded a decline.
Figure 11: Number of Ordinances issued in 2025
Sources: Assembly websites of various states; RTI; PRS.
Figure 12: Themes of Ordinances issued
Sources: Assembly websites of various states; RTI; PRS.
31% of these Ordinances related to local governance, with highest numbers from Maharashtra and Telangana. Education follows at 13%, with Uttar Pradesh issuing four Ordinances to regulate private universities. Meghalaya and Karnataka issued Ordinances to regulate medical institutions.
States on average spent eight days on discussing the annual Budget
A key function of legislatures is to oversee government finances by discussing and approving the annual budget. This process has two stages: a general discussion on the budget, followed by a detailed discussion and voting on expenditure of each department. On average, states spent eight days on budget discussions. Tamil Nadu was the only state to devote more than 20 days to discuss the budget.
Figure 13: Number of days spent on Budget discussion
Note: Data for Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura was not available. Punjab discussed General Budget and Ministry wise Expenditure on the same day.
Sources: Assembly websites of various states; RTI; PRS.
After the general discussion on the Union Budget, Parliament goes into a recess for three to four weeks before discussing the budgets of ministries. During this period the Departmentally-Related Standing Committees examine the detailed expenditure estimates of each ministry, and call on ministry officials to depose before them. These Committee submit their reports on the budgets before the detailed discussions begin. This allows for deeper examination of all ministry budgets, and Members are better informed about issues when discussing the budgets in the House.
Only a few state legislatures follow such conventions. Subject Committees in Kerala and Haryana submitted reports on budgets of various ministries. Four Assemblies, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Punjab and Uttarakhand started discussing the department budgets immediately after the general budget discussion. Some states give more time to examine the budget proposals. Kerala started the discussion 20 days after the general discussion, West Bengal after 19 days and Odisha after 17 days.
Figure 14: Days between General Discussion and Ministry wise expenditure discussion
