Madras Legislative Assembly

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
15th Legislative Assembly
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	P. Dhanapal (MLA, Avanashi), AIADMK Since 2016
Deputy Speaker	V. Jayaraman (MLA, Pollachi), AIADMK Since 2016
Chief Minister	Edappadi K. Palaniswami, AIADMK Since 2017 Feb 16 to
Leader of the Opposition	M. K. Stalin, DMK Since 16 May 2016
Deputy Leader of Opposition	Duraimurugan, DMK Since 2016
Structure
Seats	235 (234 Elected + 1 Nominated)
Political groups	AIADMK EKPS Camp (124)      AIADMK OPS Camp (11)      DMK (89)      INC (8)      IUML (1)      Vacant (1) after demise of Jayalalithaa
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	16 May 2016
Meeting place
Fort St. George 13°04′54″N 80°17′09″E / 13.081539°N 80.285718°E / 13.081539; 80.285718Coordinates: 13°04′54″N 80°17′09″E / 13.081539°N 80.285718°E / 13.081539; 80.285718
Website
www.assembly.tn.gov.in
Footnotes
The Assembly was established in 1937 for the Madras Presidency. The Presidency became Madras State in the Republic of India in 1950; Madras State in its current state was formed in 1956 and renamed as Tamil Nadu on 14 January 1969

     AIADMK EKPS Camp (124)
     AIADMK OPS Camp (11)

     DMK (89)
     INC (8)
     IUML (1)

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly alone has powers to legislate laws covering state subjects in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a strength of 235 members of whom 234 are democratically elected using the First-past-the-post system. The remaining member is nominated as a representative of the Anglo Indian community. The presiding officer of the Assembly is called the Speaker. The term of the Assembly is five years unless it is dissolved earlier.

Since Tamil Nadu has a unicameral legislature, the term Tamil Nadu Legislature and Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly are almost synonymous and are often confused. However they are not one and the same. The Tamil Nadu Legislature is the legislative body while the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is a part of it. The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly along with the Governor of Tamil Nadu, constitutes the Tamil Nadu Legislature.

The present State of Tamil Nadu is a residuary part of the erstwhile Madras Presidency and was formerly known as Madras State. The first legislature of any sort for the Presidency was the Madras Legislative Council which was set up as a non-representative advisory body in 1861. In 1919, direct elections were introduced with the introduction of Diarchy under the Government of India Act of 1919. Between 1920-1937, the Legislative Council was an unicameral legislature for the Madras Presidency. The Government of India Act of 1935 abolished dyarchy and created a bicameral legislature in the Madras Presidency. The Legislative Assembly became the Lower House of the Presidency.