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

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

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

History of Madras Legislative Assembly

The Madras Legislative Council was the largest gathering 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 the people. The elected body would meet at Fort St. George regularly to carry out their 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 the first British fortress constructed in India. It was founded in 1639 in Madras before its change in nomenclature to Chennai. The construction of the fort acted as an anchor for further settlements and trading activity, in what was originally an uninhabited land. As trading flourished, the city evolved around the fortress. The fort currently houses the Tamil Nadu legislative assembly, a church, a museum and other official buildings.

Key milestones in Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly history

January 1921: The State Assembly building when originally founded was called the Madras 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 the Coast of Gingalee, the Kingdoms of Orixa, (Odisha) Bengala (Bengal), and Pattana (Patna), as well as parts of Malabar (Kerala) and Andhra Pradesh/Telangana as well, before its bifurcation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The chaos led to MGR loaning Nirmala Rs 4,65,000 from AIADMK's party funds to pay off her creditors so that her insolvency declaration could be annulled. This annulment made Nirmala's nomination as an MP valid and the writ petition against the actor was subsequently dismissed. However, the confusion led to Nirmala withdrawing her nomination from the Council. Following this, the then Governor of Tamil Nadu, 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 the Opposition who treated this as a victory, MGR decided to abolish the council. 

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

Tamil Nadu Legislative Council revival attempts

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

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