Legislature and executive in the states

Each state has its own legislature and executive, and the structure closely mirrors the one at the union level.

The Constitutional Head at the centre is the President, elected by an electoral college; in a state it is the Governor, appointed by the President. Both have five-year terms.

At the centre, the nominal head is the President but the Prime Minister holds real power. In a state, the nominal head is the Governor but the Chief Minister holds real power.

Each is the leader of the majority party or coalition: in the Lok Sabha at the centre, in the Vidhan Sabha in a state. Each Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to that house. And just as money bills start only in the Lok Sabha at the centre, in a state money bills start only in the Vidhan Sabha.

One thing is different. The union legislature is always bicameral (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha). A state may be unicameral, with only a Vidhan Sabha, or bicameral, with a Vidhan Parishad as well. Only six states have the upper house: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

Now the part that decides who can make laws on what. The Constitution has three lists:

• the Union List: subjects for the centre alone;
• the State List: subjects for the states alone;
• the Concurrent List: subjects on which both may make laws.

The Concurrent List needs one rule to work: if the Union makes a law on a subject there, the state must follow it.

The RTE is the example. Education is on the Concurrent List, yet the Act applies all over India. Subjects like education and environmental policy need the centre and states to work together, which the chapter calls the interdependent nature of federalism.