Tamil Nadu Legislative Council turns 100: Origins, key Bills and chequered history

17th century Tamil Nu State Legislative Assembly chambers at Fort St. George will witness a historic event on August 2, as President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurates centenary celebrations. Legislative Assembly building built in 17th century is a colonial-era icon, which has remained central seat of power in State until today.

For a State that boasts of three great empires-Cholas, Cheras and Pandiyas, and is famous for having inscriptions detailing ancient constitutions, dating all way back to 920 CE barely 90 km south of Chennai, centenary celebrations on Aug 2, 2021, carries a significant meaning beyond astounding fact that legislature itself has completed 100 years of existence.

History of Mras Legislative Assembly

Mras Legislative Council was largest garing of its kind in India, constituted with 127 members in 1921, which included a total of 98 elected representatives, who were given a fixed term of three years to work for people. elected body would meet at Fort St. George regularly to carry out ir public duties. It was inaugurated by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, and uncle of George V, Emperor of England, on January 12, 1921.

Fort St. George was historically known as White Town and was first British fortress constructed in India. It was founded in 1639 in Mras before its change in nomenclature to Chennai. construction of fort acted as an anchor for furr settlements and tring activity, in what was originally an uninhabited land. As tring flourished, city evolved around fortress. fort currently houses Tamil Nu legislative assembly, a church, a museum and or official buildings.

Key milestones in Tamil Nu Legislative Assembly history

January 1921: State Assembly building when originally founded was called Mras Legislative Council. It was inaugurated by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, and uncle of George V, Emperor of England on January 12. It was a place of Governorship that housed important affairs of Coast of Gingalee, Kingdoms of Orixa, (Odisha) Bengala (Bengal), and Pattana (Patna), as well as parts of Malabar (Kerala) and Andhra Presh/Telangana as well, before its bifurcation.

April 1921: Legislative Council opted removal of sex disqualification on women for franchise, which removed gender restriction on voting as well as enabling possibility of women becoming elected members.

July 1937: Bi-cameral legislature formed with Legislative Assembly having 215 members and Legislative Councils having 56 seats. It frequently met at Senate House in Chepauk campus of University of Mras and Banqueting Hall (Rajaji Hall) in Government Estate Hill until October 1939, before switching back to Fort St. George.

July 1947:  National Flag of India which was designed by Pingali Venkayya was first opted in its present form during a meeting of Constituent Assembly held on July 22, 1947, barely one month before India's independence from British on August 15, 1947. first-ever flag flown after independence is also stored in third floor of a museum premises inside Fort complex. 

March 1952: Mras Presidency's first Assembly was constituted after independence with 375 seats with 243 single-member constituencies and 66 double-member constituencies. Legislative Council's strength rose to 72 members, including 1w nominated members.

April 1957: Following reorganisation of States based on languages, Legislative Assembly's strength dropped to 205, which is when Fort St. George yet again became venue of deliberations until 2010.

March 1967-1968: Legislative Assembly's strength rose to 234 after it opted a unicameral legislature, this number remains same even today.

November 1986: Tamil Nu Legislative Council (Abolition) Bill, 1986 was passed by both houses of Parliament and received assent of President and eventually abolished same year.

What is Tamil Nu Legislative Council (Abolition) Bill 1986?

legislative council was abolished in 1986 by MGR-led AIMK government who h nominated a Tamil film actress, Vennira Aai Nirmala to Council. Ahe of her swearing-in ceremony on April 23, 1986, it came to light that Nirmala h earlier declared insolvency and according to Article 102-(1)(c) of Indian Constitution, an insolvent person cannot serve as a member of parliament or state legislature. 

chaos led to MGR loaning Nirmala Rs 4,65,000 from AIMK's party funds to pay off her creditors so that her insolvency declaration could be annulled. This annulment me Nirmala's nomination as an MP valid and writ petition against actor was subsequently dismissed. However, confusion led to Nirmala withdrawing her nomination from Council. Following this, n Governor of Tamil Nu, Sundar Lal Khurana asked MGR to explain how Nirmala's nomination was proposed without proper vetting. Miffed with this incident, and unable to save face from Opposition who treated this as a victory, MGR decided to abolish council. 

And thus, on May 14, a resolution seeking to abolish Council was moved successfully in legislative assembly. Tamil Nu Legislative Council (Abolition) Bill, 1986 was passed by both houses of Parliament and received assent of President on August 30, 1986. Act came into force on November 1, 1986, and council was abolished.

Tamil Nu Legislative Council revival attempts

DMK has so far me three unsuccessful attempts when it was in power during 1989–91 and 1996-2001 to revive council. It was also one of ir key campaign promises in 2006 Assembly elections which y won. In 2010 again, Tamil Nu Legislative Council Bill, 2010 was approved by Indian Cabinet and was passed by both houses of Indian Parliament. 

However, in 2011 Assembly elections, AIMK came out with a sweeping majority heed by J. Jayalalithaa, who expressed her intention not to revive Council. government once again passed a counter resolution to withdraw attempt to revive council. And so stands legacy of a 100-year-old Council that is waiting to be revived once again. It can be noted that ahe of 2021 Tamil Nu state Assembly election, revival of Legislative Council was one of BJP's campaign promises listed in its manifesto.