The upper house of a state legislature is known as the:

The upper house of a state legislature is called the Legislative Council, or Vidhan Parishad in Hindi. The lower house is called the Legislative Assembly, or Vidhan Sabha.

Bicameral and unicameral states:

• States with two Houses (Assembly and Council) have a bicameral legislature.
• Most states have only one House, the Legislative Assembly, and are called unicameral.
• Only a few states have a Legislative Council.

Nature of the Legislative Council:

• It is a permanent House and is not subject to dissolution.
• A part of its members retire at regular intervals, so the House continues even when the Assembly is dissolved.
• Its members are chosen in a mixed way: some are elected by local bodies, some by members of the Legislative Assembly, some by graduates and some by teachers, while the rest are nominated.

Powers of the Council:

• It can delay an ordinary bill passed by the Assembly, but the Assembly has the final say.
• It can only make recommendations on a Money Bill.
• The Council of Ministers is responsible only to the Legislative Assembly, not to the Council.
• It cannot remove the state government through a no-confidence motion.

Purpose of the Council:

• It is meant to provide a forum for experienced and qualified persons who may not want to contest direct elections.
• It allows more careful consideration of bills.
• Critics call it a "secondary chamber" with limited usefulness.

Creation or abolition:

A Council can be created or abolished by Parliament on a resolution passed by the state Assembly by a special majority.

Presiding officers:

• The Council is presided over by its Chairman, elected from among its members.
• The Assembly is presided over by the Speaker.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Vidhan Sabha is the lower house of a state legislature.
• ✗Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha are the two Houses of Parliament.