There are a little over 4000 MLAs across all states in India. For the citizen, a law passed by his state legislature is as relevant and important as one passed by Parliament. And MLAs also have no research support available to them to understand and reflect on policy issues before voting for them in the state assembly. To make matters worse, the sittings in many state assemblies are abysmally low as can be seen from this graph showing some states. 
For a while now, several MPs have been urging PRS to initiate some work with MLAs. We started a Policy Guide series some months ago -- essentially a 2-page note on policy issues of contemporary relevance that would be useful for MLAs. We started sending these out to MLAs in several states, and some MLAs called PRS back for more information and research. As a way to increase the engagement, PRS decided to hold a workshop for MLAs. For this, we partnered with Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, and held our first workshop for MLAs from Jan 3-6, 2011. In the first edition of the workshop, we had 44 MLAs participating from a dozen states across India. The response was overwhelmingly positive (see short videos of MLA feedback here), with requests from MLAs to hold more such workshops for other MLAs as well. Several also wanted longer duration workshops on important policy issues. We see this as a small beginning for a sustained engagement with our MLAs.
The Election Commission has announced the schedule for the election of the President of India. The last date for nominations is June 30, elections will be held on July 19, and counting will take place on July 22. The BJD and AIADMK have proposed the name of Mr. P.A. Sangma. The Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress have suggested three names. Other parties or alliances have not announced any contenders. Our calculations show that no single party or alliance has the numbers to unilaterally elect candidates of its choice. A candidate will need 5,48,507 votes to be elected as the President. If the UPA were to vote as a consolidated block, its vote tally would reach 4,49,847 (41% of the total votes). Among the Congress allies, Trinamool holds the largest number of votes (47,898). If Trinamool decides to support some other candidate, the UPA tally will fall to 4,01,949 votes (37% of the total). The votes held by the major alliances are given in the table below:
| Coalition | Value of votes | Percentage of total votes |
| UPA |
4,49,847 |
41.0% |
| NDA |
3,03,912 |
27.7% |
| Left |
52,282 |
4.8% |
| Bahujan Samaj Party |
43,723 |
4.0% |
| Samajwadi Party |
68,943 |
6.3% |
| Biju Janata Dal |
30,215 |
2.8% |
| AIADMK |
36,216 |
3.3% |
| Others |
1,11,874 |
10.2% |
| Total |
10,97,012 |
|
| Minimum required to be elected |
5,48,507 |
|
A detailed break-up of votes held by each party is given in the table below:
| Party | Value of votes | Percentage of total votes |
| Indian National Congress |
3,31,855 |
30.30% |
| Bharatiya Janata Party |
2,32,454 |
21.20% |
| Samajwadi Party |
68,943 |
6.30% |
| All India Trinamool Congress |
47,898 |
4.40% |
| Bahujan Samaj Party |
43,723 |
4.00% |
| Janata Dal (United) |
41,574 |
3.80% |
| All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) |
36,216 |
3.30% |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
35,734 |
3.30% |
| Biju Janata Dal |
30,215 |
2.80% |
| Nationalist Congress Party |
24,058 |
2.20% |
| Independent |
23,830 |
2.20% |
| Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) |
21,780 |
2.00% |
| Telugu Desam Party |
21,256 |
1.90% |
| Shiv Sena |
18,320 |
1.70% |
| Shiromani Akali Dal |
11,564 |
1.10% |
| Communist Party of India |
9,758 |
0.90% |
| Rashtriya Janata Dal |
8,816 |
0.80% |
| Others |
7,420 |
0.70% |
| Janata Dal (Secular) |
6,138 |
0.60% |
| Jammu and Kashmir National Conference |
5,556 |
0.50% |
| Rashtriya Lok Dal |
5,412 |
0.50% |
| Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhaga (DMDK) |
5,104 |
0.50% |
| Jharkhand Mukti Morcha |
4,584 |
0.40% |
| Muslim League Kerala State Committee |
4,456 |
0.40% |
| Indian National Lok Dal |
4,068 |
0.40% |
| All India Forward Bloc |
3,961 |
0.40% |
| Jharkhand Vikas Morcha |
3,352 |
0.30% |
| Asom Gana Parishad |
3,284 |
0.30% |
| Telangana Rashtra Samiti |
3,044 |
0.30% |
| Revolutionary Socialist Party |
2,829 |
0.30% |
| Bodoland People's Front |
2,808 |
0.30% |
| All India United Democratic Front |
2,796 |
0.30% |
| Praja Rajyam Party |
2,664 |
0.20% |
| Maharashtra Navnirman Sena |
2,275 |
0.20% |
| Kerala Congress (M) |
2,076 |
0.20% |
| All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen |
1,744 |
0.20% |
| Nagaland People's Front |
1,722 |
0.20% |
| Sikkim Democratic Front |
1,640 |
0.10% |
| Peoples Democratic Party |
1,512 |
0.10% |
| Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi |
1,058 |
0.10% |
| Lok Janasakti Party |
957 |
0.10% |
| All Jharkhand Students Union |
880 |
0.10% |
| Haryana Janhit Congress |
820 |
0.10% |
| Mizo National Front |
732 |
0.10% |
| Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam |
708 |
0.10% |
| Swabhimani Paksha |
708 |
0.10% |
| Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi |
708 |
0.10% |
| YSR Congress Party |
708 |
0.10% |
| Peasants and Workers Party |
700 |
0.10% |
| Pattali Makkal Katchi |
528 |
0.00% |
| Manithaneya Makkal Katch |
352 |
0.00% |
| Puthiya Tamilaga |
352 |
0.00% |
| All India NR Congress |
240 |
0.00% |
| J&K National Panthers Party |
216 |
0.00% |
| Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) |
176 |
0.00% |
| United Democratic Party |
153 |
0.00% |
| Lok Satta Party |
148 |
0.00% |
| Loktantrik Samajwadi Party |
129 |
0.00% |
| J&K Democratic Party Nationalist |
72 |
0.00% |
| People's Democratic Front |
72 |
0.00% |
| Uttarakhand Kranti Dal |
64 |
0.00% |
| Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party |
60 |
0.00% |
| People's Party of Arunachal |
32 |
0.00% |
| Total |
10,97,012 |
|
Notes: The electoral college for the Presidential election consists of the elected members of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and all Legislative Assemblies. The winning candidate must secure at least 50% of the total value of votes polled. Each MP/ MLA’s vote has a pre-determined value based on the population they represent. For instance, an MP’s vote has a value of 708, an MLA from UP has a vote value of 208 and an MLA from Sikkim has a vote value of 7 (Note that all MPs, irrespective of the constituency or State they represent, have equal vote value). Parties in various coalitions: UPA: Congress, Trinamool, DMK, NCP,Rashtriya Lok Dal, J&K National Conference, Muslim League Kerala State Committee, Kerala Congress (M), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, Sikkim Democratic Front, Praja Rajyam Party, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi NDA: BJP, JD(U), Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal, Janata Party Left: CPI(M), CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party, All India Forward Bloc
