Qualification for Membership of State Legislature
Official heading: “Qualification for membership of the St ate Legislature .”
- Source edition
- The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2026)
- Source locator
- Part VI, Article 173, printed pages 79–80
- Last human source-link check
- Not yet checked
- Last human legal review
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1. In One Sentence
Article 173 sets the qualifications for becoming an MLA or MLC, requiring Indian citizenship, a constitutional oath, and minimum age thresholds of twenty-five and thirty years respectively.
2. What It Means in Everyday Language
Article 173 sets out the essential prerequisites that an individual must satisfy to be eligible to contest an election to a State Legislature.
Core Requirements: A candidate must (a) be a citizen of India; (b) make and subscribe a constitutional oath or affirmation before an authorized election officer according to the Third Schedule; and (c) meet the age threshold.
Age Qualifications: A candidate for the Legislative Assembly must be at least twenty-five years of age, whereas a candidate for the Legislative Council must be at least thirty years of age.
Statutory Qualifications: Clause (c) additionally requires the candidate to possess such other qualifications as Parliament may prescribe by law, primarily found in the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
3. Practical Illustrative Example
A 26-year-old grassroots social activist files nomination papers for the State Legislative Assembly.
4. Important Limits, Qualifications & Exceptions
Article 173 establishes candidate eligibility thresholds for State democratic representation.
- Mandatory citizenship of India.
- Nomination oath before the Election Commission's returning officer.
- Differential age minimums: 25 years for Assembly, 30 years for Council.
- Parliamentary legislative authority: Enables statutory electoral qualifications under the RPA 1951.
5. Operative Constitutional Text
6. Sources & Historical Assembly Deliberations
Assembly quotations are withheld until wording, dates, and attribution have been checked against the primary record.
- •Government of India (Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice) • Part VI, Article 173, printed pages 79–80 • Human source-link check pending
Primary PDF accessed and transcribed with AI assistance on 14 October 2026. Formatting and amendment annotation markers are omitted; operative wording is retained. This is not human legal review. Later amendments and commencement notifications have not been comprehensively checked.