New Delhi: While the national attention remained fixed on the Pahalgam attack, the subsequent military operation, US President Donald Trump’s provocations, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral gains in Delhi and Bihar, and the contentious Special Intensive Revision (SIR), in 2025, India’s state legislatures quietly passed more than 600 Bills – 30% of them passed on the same day they were introduced, according to the PRS Annual Review of State Laws 2025. This is an uptick from about 500 Bills passed in 2024. The trend is reflective of the culture of rushed discussions under the Modi government. Karnataka passed the highest number of Bills – 84 – in just 34 sitting days, including 17 Bills passed in one sitting and 12 in another. Similarly, Assam cleared 60 Bills in 21 days, 14 of them in a single sitting.State assemblies are increasingly taking cues from the parliament debates and passing Bills with limited scrutiny. Seven Assemblies – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Puducherry and Punjab – passed all Bills either on the day of introduction or the very next day. The review covered 27 states and the Union territories of Delhi, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir. Manipur was under President’s Rule from February 13, 2025 to February 6 this year, and the legislature did not meet at all last year.Assemblies met just enough timesThe Constitution of India mandates that no more than six months must pass between two sittings of a state assembly. While all states met this requirement in 2025, in several cases, “this was achieved with states meeting just enough to meet this requirement”, the report states. Assam, for instance, convened a one-day session in June, between the March and November sessions. Gujarat, after adjourning in March, met for three days in September. In Rajasthan, the gap between two sessions was five months and eight days, while in Meghalaya, the interval was five months and 26 days. On average, the assemblies sat for 24 days in the year, ranging from seven days in Nagaland to 43 days in Odisha. Some states have established minimum targets for annual sitting days. Barring Himachal Pradesh, no state met its prescribed target.Photo: PRS Annual Review of State Laws 2025The Bills included those related to local governance, taxation, education and more. Several states also established new urban development authorities, some regulated coaching centres and the fees of academic institutions.According to PRS, 66% of the Bills received assent from the governor within one month, while 94% did within three.Vacant officesOffice of Deputy Speaker has been vacant in eight state assemblies, along with in the Lok Sabha, as of May 2026. The Jharkhand assembly, in particular, functioned for more than 21 years without having a deputy speaker. According to Article 178 of the Indian constitution, all the assemblies are mandated to have a deputy speaker for all sessions.Photo: PRS Annual Review of State Laws 2025Budget discussionThe annual budget is often considered one of the most important discussions in the parliament and state assemblies. Most sittings typically occur in the first quarter of the year, as was the case in 2025, when states meet to pass their budget.However, the PRS review shows, on average, states spent eight days discussing the budget last year.Crucially, while Tamil Nadu discussed the budgets of all departments in 23 days, while Haryana compressed it all in a one-day sitting.Photo: PRS Annual Review of State Laws 2025Bills that stood outThere were some Bills worth noting in 2025, whether for the good or its absurdity. As many as 13 states amended their shops and establishment acts, mostly to allow women to work in night shifts. Bihar, Karnataka and Jharkhand also passed laws to provide social security to gig workers.Haryana criminalised the use of dead bodies for protests. Assam allowed buffalo fights, and Kerala allowed cattle racing. Mizoram banned beggary. Assam also passed a bill banning polygamy, with a punishment of seven years in jail, for all communities except Scheduled Tribes. It also reserved 25 per cent of private university seats for state students.