History of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly
# History of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly

The Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, also known as the Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha, is a unicameral governing and law making body of Uttarakhand, one of the 28 states of India. It is seated at Dehradun, the winter capital, and Gairsain, the summer capital of Uttarakhand. The total strength of the assembly is 70 Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).

## Seats

Between 2002 and 2020, Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly had 71 seats, including one reserved seat for the member of Anglo-Indian community that was abolished on 25 January 2020 by the 104th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2019, reducing the strength of Assembly from 71 to 70 seats.

## 2016 Assembly suspension

In March 2016, capping a nine-day high-voltage political drama, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union Government brought Uttarakhand under President's rule citing a constitutional breakdown in the wake of a rebellion in then state-ruling Indian National Congress, which slammed the decision calling it a "murder of democracy" and a "black day".

President Pranab Mukherjee signed the proclamation under Article 356 of the Constitution of India dismissing the INC-ruled State Government, the Chief Minister Harish Rawat and placing the Assembly under suspended animation on the recommendation of the Union Cabinet.

The Union Government was of the view that continuance of the Rawat government was "immoral and unconstitutional" after 18 March 2016, when the Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker declared the appropriation bill "passed" in controversial circumstances without allowing a division pressed for by 35 MLAs, including 9 rebel Congress legislators.

The Union Cabinet had held an emergency meeting on Saturday night presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had cut short a visit to Assam to return to the New Delhi for the purpose.

The Cabinet considered several reports received from Governor Krishan Kant Paul, who had described the political situation as volatile and expressed apprehensions over possible pandemonium during the scheduled trial of strength in the Assembly on Monday.

The purported CD of the sting operation conducted against the Chief Minister that was in public domain on Saturday was understood to have been factored into the decision of the Cabinet which found it as a case of horse trading.

Additionally Two Uttarakhand MLAs, one each from Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party were on 9 June suspended for cross-voting during the floor test that was held on 10 May. Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal suspended BJP MLA Bhim Lal Arya and INC MLA Rekha Arya.

## Electionwise Composition of Assembly

Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly year-wise election results :

| Party | Party | Year | Year | Year | Year | Year |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Party | Party | 2022 Elections | 2017 Elections | 2012 Elections | 2007 Elections | 2002 Elections |
| | Bahujan Samaj Party | 02 | – | 03 | 08 | 07 |
| | Bharatiya Janata Party | 47 | 57 | 31 | 35 | 19 |
| | Indian National Congress | 19 | 11 | 32 | 21 | 36 |
| | Nationalist Congress Party | – | – | – | – | 01 |
| | Uttarakhand Kranti Dal | – | – | 01 | 03 | 04 |
| | Independent | 02 | 02 | 03 | 03 | 03 |
| Total Seats | Total Seats | 70 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 70 |

### List of Assemblies

The following is the list of all the Uttarakhand Legislative Assemblies

| Assembly | Election Year | Speaker | Chief Minister | Party | Opposition Leader | Party |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Interim Assembly | N/A | Prakash Pant | Nityanand Swami (2000–01) | Bharatiya Janata Party | Indira Hridayesh | Indian National Congress |
| Interim Assembly | N/A | Prakash Pant | Bhagat Singh Koshyari (2001–02) | Bharatiya Janata Party | Indira Hridayesh | Indian National Congress |
| 1st Assembly | 2002 | Yashpal Arya | Narayan Datt Tiwari | Indian National Congress | Bhagat Singh Koshyari (2002–03) | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| 1st Assembly | 2002 | Yashpal Arya | Narayan Datt Tiwari | Indian National Congress | Matbar Singh Kandari (2003–07) | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| 2nd Assembly | 2007 | Harbans Kapoor | Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri (2007–09) | Bharatiya Janata Party | Harak Singh Rawat | Indian National Congress |
| 2nd Assembly | 2007 | Harbans Kapoor | Ramesh Pokhriyal (2009–11) | Bharatiya Janata Party | Harak Singh Rawat | Indian National Congress |
| 2nd Assembly | 2007 | Harbans Kapoor | Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri (2011–12) | Bharatiya Janata Party | Harak Singh Rawat | Indian National Congress |
| 3rd Assembly | 2012 | Govind Singh Kunjwal | Vijay Bahuguna (2012–14) | Indian National Congress | Ajay Bhatt | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| 3rd Assembly | 2012 | Govind Singh Kunjwal | Harish Rawat (2014–17) | Indian National Congress | Ajay Bhatt | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| 4th Assembly | 2017 | Premchand Aggarwal | Trivendra Singh Rawat (2017–21) | Bharatiya Janata Party | Indira Hridayesh (2017–21) | Indian National Congress |
| 4th Assembly | 2017 | Premchand Aggarwal | Tirath Singh Rawat (2021) | Bharatiya Janata Party | Indira Hridayesh (2017–21) | Indian National Congress |
| 4th Assembly | 2017 | Premchand Aggarwal | Pushkar Singh Dhami | Bharatiya Janata Party | Pritam Singh (2021–22) | Indian National Congress |
| 5th Assembly | 2022 | Ritu Khanduri Bhushan | Pushkar Singh Dhami | Bharatiya Janata Party | Yashpal Arya | Indian National Congress |

## Speakers

| No. | Name | Constituency | Term | Term | Party | Assembly (Election) |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Prakash Pant | MLC for Kumaon Local Authorities | 12 March 2001 | 14 March 2002 | Bharatiya Janata Party | Interim Assembly |
| 2 | Yashpal Arya | Mukteshwar | 15 March 2002 | 11 March 2007 | Indian National Congress | 1st Assembly (2002) |
| 3 | Harbans Kapoor | Dehradun | 12 March 2007 | 13 March 2012 | Bharatiya Janata Party | 2nd Assembly (2007) |
| 4 | Govind Singh Kunjwal | Jageshwar | 26 March 2012 | 20 March 2017 | Indian National Congress | 3rd Assembly (2012) |
| 5 | Premchand Aggarwal | Rishikesh | 23 March 2017 | 21 March 2022 | Bharatiya Janata Party | 4th Assembly (2017) |
| 6 | Ritu Khanduri Bhushan | Kotdwar | 26 March 2022 | Incumbent | Bharatiya Janata Party | 5th Assembly (2022) |
