State Government

State governments in India are the governments ruling over 29 states and 8 union territories of India and the head of the Council of Ministers in a state is the Chief Minister. Power is divided between the Union government and state governments. While the Union government handles defence, external affairs etc., the state government deals with internal security (through state police) and other state issues.

Each state has a Legislative Assembly. A state legislature that has one house - State Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) - is a unicameral legislature. A state legislature that has two houses - the State Legislative assembly and State Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad) - is a bicameral legislature. The Vidhan Sabha is the lower house and corresponds to the Lok Sabha while the Vidhan Parishad is the upper house and corresponds to the Rajya Sabha of the Parliament of India.