From a small advisory Council to the Sixteenth Assembly: the three phases of the Kerala legislature

Background

The Sixteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly is sitting in its second session, and the bills published for it this month make it the right moment to read the institution's own account of how it grew.
The Kerala Legislature traces its evolution from the parallel but heterogeneous courses of development in the erstwhile Princely States of Travancore and Cochin and in Malabar, to uniform progress in the integrated State of Kerala.
The Princely States of Travancore and Cochin were unified and the Part B State of Travancore Cochin was formed on July 1, 1949.
The State of Travancore Cochin and the Malabar district of the State of Madras, excluding certain areas, constituted the State of Kerala as per the States reorganization in November 1956.
The legislature classifies the transition from a small advisory Council to the constitutionally sanctioned law making body of Kerala into three phases: 1888-1947, 1947-1956 and Since 1956.
The First Kerala Legislative Assembly was constituted on 1-4-1957, first met on 27-4-1957 and was dissolved on 31-7-1959, after 7 sessions and 175 sittings.
The Fifteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly was constituted on 03-05-2021, first met on 24-05-2021 and was dissolved on 06-05-2026, after 16 sessions and 204 sittings.
The Sixteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly was constituted on 05-05-2026 and first met on 21-05-2026.