Difference Between MP and MLA
MP is Member of Parliament while MLA is member of legislative assembly. At the center the parliament has MPs and the states have MLAs and MLCs. Member of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are collectively known as MPs.
Differences between MLA and MP are given here:
- MLA is an elected member of state assembly while MP is elected or nominated Member of Parliament.
- MLA represents smaller constituency while MP represents larger area. In fact there may be 4 to 6 MLAs within one parliamentary constituency.
All the MLAs are elected directly by the people by the common elections while members of Rajya sabha are elected by proportional representation by the MLAs of different states. Members of Lok sabha are elected by common elections but 12 out of the total are nominated by the president.
Distribution of power between states and union allows the state legislature to make their own laws on the subjects in their list. The list includes subjects like agriculture, police, public health etc and parliament cannot make laws on any of these matters in the state list. There is a list of subjects on which both state and center can make laws like education, conservation of natural resources etc.
Parliament controls the union executive in the same manner as the state legislative does on the state executive. For a person to be an MLA in a state, he must be a voter in the state.
It is interesting to note that MP usually belongs to the lower house of parliament in many countries. The member from the upper house may be called senators and the upper houses are called senates. It is likely that the members of parliament form parliamentary parties with members of the same political party.
As far as the qualifications of an MLA are concerned they are almost the same as those prescribed for the MPs. Any person can become an MLA is he is not less than 25 years of age. It is mandatory for a person to be a voter himself in the state if he or she is to become the member of the legislative assembly of that state.