Indian Politics Questions and Answers

Answer: A

Correct answer: 395

As adopted in 1949 the Constitution had 395 articles in 22 parts, with 8 schedules. It has since grown to over 470 articles in 25 parts with 12 schedules, through more than a hundred amendments. The numbering does not track the count, which is what makes the question awkward. Articles have been added with letter suffixes - 21-A for the right to education, 51-A for the Fundamental Duties, 338-A and 338-B for the commissions - while a few have been repealed, notably Article 31 on the right to property. So the highest number is still 395, but the number of articles is larger. It remains the longest written constitution of any sovereign country. The length has several causes: it covers both the Union and the states in a single document, it borrowed heavily from the very detailed Government of India Act 1935, and the framers chose to spell matters out rather than leave them to convention, in a society with great diversity and little constitutional precedent.

Answer: B

Hyderabad is the capital of Telangana.

When the state was created on 2 June 2014, Hyderabad was made the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for up to ten years; Andhra Pradesh has since developed Amaravati as its own capital.

Answer: D

Correct answer: The state level

The Lokayukta is the anti-corruption ombudsman at the state level; its counterpart at the Union level is the Lokpal. States began creating Lokayuktas long before the centre acted: Maharashtra was first in 1971, followed by Odisha, Rajasthan, Bihar and others, each under its own statute, so their powers, tenure and jurisdiction have varied considerably. Karnataka’s was for a period the most active, with its own investigating police wing. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act of 2013 created the Lokpal and required every state to establish a Lokayukta within a year, though it left the details to state legislation. The institution derives from the Scandinavian Ombudsman, recommended for India by the first Administrative Reforms Commission in 1966, which proposed both a Lokpal and Lokayuktas. Neither is a constitutional body; both are statutory, which is one reason their independence and effectiveness have been questioned.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Panchayati Raj institutions

The 73rd Amendment of 1992 gave constitutional status to Panchayati Raj institutions, inserting Part IX and the Eleventh Schedule. Its companion, the 74th, did the same for urban local bodies through Part IX-A and the Twelfth Schedule. It established a three-tier structure - village, intermediate and district - for states with a population above twenty lakh, required elections every five years, and provided for State Election Commissions to conduct them and State Finance Commissions to review their resources. It reserved seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportion to population, and not less than one third of all seats and chairperson posts for women, a figure many states have since raised to one half. The Eleventh Schedule lists 29 subjects that may be devolved to panchayats. Their actual devolution has been uneven, since the amendment permits rather than compels it - which is why local government remains weak in some states and substantial in others such as Kerala.

Answer: C

A bicameral legislature is one with two chambers - a lower house and an upper house.

India's Parliament is bicameral, with the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Only six states currently have a legislative council alongside their assembly; the rest are unicameral.

Answer: D

Economic liberty is not in the Preamble.

The Preamble secures liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship. Economic aims - an adequate livelihood, the prevention of concentration of wealth - appear separately, among the directive principles in Part IV.

Answer: C

Correct answer: C. Rajagopalachari

C. Rajagopalachari, known as Rajaji, was the last Governor-General of India, holding office from June 1948 until the post was abolished on 26 January 1950. He was the only Indian ever to hold it. Lord Mountbatten was the last Viceroy of British India and then the first Governor-General of the independent dominion, from August 1947 to June 1948 - the distinction between Viceroy and Governor-General of the dominion is the one the question turns on. Lord Wavell was Viceroy before him. The office disappeared when the Constitution came into force and India became a republic, its functions passing to the President, and Dr Rajendra Prasad became the first holder of that office. Rajagopalachari went on to serve as Home Minister and as Chief Minister of Madras, and later founded the Swatantra Party. He was among the first recipients of the Bharat Ratna in 1954.

Answer: D

The directive principles aim at establishing social and economic democracy.

Political democracy - one person one vote - was secured by the fundamental rights and the electoral system. Ambedkar warned that it would be a contradiction so long as social and economic inequality persisted, and the directive principles are the programme for removing it.

Answer: B

Panchayats and municipalities were given constitutional status in 1993, when the 73rd and 74th Amendments came into force.

They were passed in 1992 and added Parts IX and IXA and the Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules, making elections to local bodies mandatory every five years.

Answer: C

Tripura is one of the Seven Sisters.

The seven are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Sikkim, added later to the north-eastern region, is called the brother.