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Candidates from various political parties won the 2003 assembly elections
and became MLAs. Since the total number of MLAs in the Legislative Assembly
is 68, a political party would have needed to have more than 34 MLAs in order to
gain a majority. The Indian National Congress with 43 MLAs had the majority and
it became the ruling party. All other MLAs became the opposition. In this case,
Bharatiya Janata Party was the major opposition party, since it had the largest
number of MLAs after the Indian National Congress. Among the opposition were
other parties, including those who had been elected as independent candidates.
After the elections, the MLAs belonging to the ruling party will elect their leader
who will become the chief minister. In this case, the Congress Party MLAs chose
Shri Virbhadra Singh as their leader and he became the chief minister. The chief
minister then selects other people as ministers. After the elections, it is the
Governor of the state who appoints the chief minister and other ministers. The
chief minister and other ministers have the responsibility of running various
government departments or ministries.
The government can also decide to make new laws for the state regarding
sanitation and health facilities. For example, it may make it compulsory for
municipal corporations to ensure that there are adequate toilets in every urban
area. It may also ensure that a health worker is appointed in every village. This
act of making laws on certain issues is done in the Legislative Assembly of each
state. The various government departments then implement these laws. Laws for
the entire country are made in the Parliament. You will read more about the
Parliament next year. In a democracy, it is the people who elect their
representatives as Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and, thus, it is
the people who have the main authority. The ruling party members then form the
government and some members are appointed ministers.
We will read about this further.