Indian Politics Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The Objectives Resolution was adopted unanimously by the Constituent Assembly on 22 January 1947.

Nehru had moved it on 13 December 1946, and the debate ran through five sessions. It became the basis of the Preamble.

Answer: B

Correct answer: The members of the Lok Sabha from among themselves

The Speaker is elected by the members of the Lok Sabha from among themselves, usually at the first sitting after a general election, on a date fixed by the President. The office carries considerable authority: the Speaker presides over sittings, decides points of order, certifies whether a bill is a Money Bill - a decision that is final - presides over joint sittings of the two Houses, and decides disqualification cases under the anti-defection law. The Speaker votes only in the case of a tie, exercising a casting vote, which preserves the appearance of impartiality. Two features protect the office. The Speaker continues in office after the Lok Sabha is dissolved, until immediately before the first sitting of the next House, so the chair is never vacant. And removal requires a resolution passed by an effective majority of the House after fourteen days’ notice; while such a resolution is pending, the Speaker may not preside but may speak and vote.

Answer: B

The Contingency Fund of India is placed at the disposal of the president.

It lets the executive meet unforeseen expenditure without waiting for a parliamentary appropriation; approval is sought afterwards and the fund is then replenished. It stands at ₹30,000 crore.

Answer: D

The Lok Sabha constituted after the 2014 general election was the 16th Lok Sabha.

The first was elected in 1952, and a new House is constituted after each general election, normally every five years. The 2019 election produced the 17th and the 2024 election the 18th.

Answer: C

The requirement that candidates file an affidavit about their spouse and dependents was first enforced at the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections of 2003.

It followed the Supreme Court's ruling that voters have a right under Article 19(1)(a) to know a candidate's assets, liabilities, education and criminal record.

Answer: A

Correct answer: The 61st Amendment

The 61st Amendment, passed in 1988 and effective from 1989, lowered the voting age for elections to the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies from 21 to 18 by amending Article 326. The stated reasoning was that the country’s young people were politically conscious and literate enough to be given the franchise, and that including them would deepen democracy. It added some fifty million voters at a stroke. The other amendments named are all significant in their own right. The 42nd of 1976, passed during the Emergency, is called the mini-Constitution for the sheer number of changes it made, including the insertion of socialist and secular into the Preamble and the Fundamental Duties. The 44th of 1978 reversed many of them and removed the right to property from the fundamental rights. The 52nd of 1985 introduced the anti-defection law in the Tenth Schedule.

Answer: C

The minimum age for membership of the Rajya Sabha is 30 years.

For the Lok Sabha it is 25. The higher age reflects the Rajya Sabha's intended character as a house of elders and of second thought.

Answer: B

A single executive is the basic feature of presidential government.

The president is both head of state and head of government, is elected separately from the legislature, and holds office for a fixed term. In a parliamentary system the executive is dual - a nominal head and a real one - and answerable to the legislature.

Answer: D

Rajendra Prasad had the longest presidency, from 1950 to 1962 - two full terms, the only president ever elected twice.

The rule limiting a president to two terms is a convention rather than a bar; no one since has been re-elected.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala

In Kesavananda Bharati (1973) the Supreme Court held that the Preamble is a part of the Constitution and can be amended under Article 368, provided the basic structure is not destroyed. This reversed the position taken in the Berubari Union reference of 1960, where the Court had said the Preamble was not part of the Constitution and had no substantive power, though it could serve as a key to the framers’ minds where a provision was ambiguous. The practical consequence followed three years later: the 42nd Amendment of 1976 amended the Preamble, inserting socialist, secular and integrity. That remains the only amendment ever made to it. The Preamble is still not a source of enforceable power - no case can be founded on it alone - but the courts use it to interpret ambiguous provisions and to identify the objectives against which laws are tested. Golaknath and Minerva Mills concern the amending power itself.