Indian Politics Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The office of the prime minister has a constitutional basis. Article 75 provides that the prime minister shall be appointed by the president and the other ministers appointed on the prime minister's advice.

In Britain, by contrast, the office rests on convention alone and is mentioned in no statute.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Canada

The integrated judiciary - a single system of courts enforcing both Union and state law, headed by the Supreme Court - follows the Canadian model, as does the appointment of state Governors by the centre and the vesting of residuary powers in the union. The contrast is with the United States, which has a dual system: federal courts applying federal law and separate state courts applying state law, each with its own hierarchy. India rejected that as unsuited to a country where uniformity of law was thought more important. The practical consequence is that a single case can travel from a district court through the High Court to the Supreme Court regardless of whether it arises under Union or state law, and that the Supreme Court’s declarations bind every court in the country under Article 141. The other borrowings are worth recalling: fundamental rights and judicial review from the United States, directive principles from Ireland, the parliamentary system from Britain, and the Concurrent List and joint sittings from Australia.

Answer: D

B.N. Rau was constitutional adviser to the Constituent Assembly.

He prepared the original draft on which the Drafting Committee worked, having studied the constitutions of the United States, Canada, Ireland and Australia at first hand. He later became a judge of the International Court of Justice.

Answer: B

The fundamental rights fall under six heads: equality, freedom, freedom of religion, cultural and educational rights, the right against exploitation, and the right to constitutional remedies.

There were seven until the 44th Amendment of 1978 removed the right to property from Part III and made it a constitutional legal right under Article 300A.

Answer: D

Jana Gana Mana was adopted as the national anthem on 24 January 1950, by the Constituent Assembly, two days before the Constitution came into force.

The same sitting adopted Vande Mataram as the national song, with equal status.

Answer: A

The legal adviser to a state government is the Advocate-General, appointed by the governor under Article 165.

The office is the state counterpart of the Attorney-General for India. The Advocate-General has the right to speak in the state legislature but not to vote.

Answer: D

The Constitution now has 12 schedules.

There were eight at the start; the Ninth was added in 1951, the Tenth in 1985 for the anti-defection law, and the Eleventh and Twelfth in 1992 for panchayats and municipalities.

Answer: C

Correct answer: 2019

Article 370 was effectively abrogated in August 2019. A Presidential Order superseded the earlier order of 1954 and applied the whole Constitution of India to Jammu and Kashmir, and a statutory resolution of Parliament declared the article inoperative. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act passed at the same time reorganised the state into two union territories: Jammu and Kashmir, with a legislature, and Ladakh, without one. It was the first time a state had been converted into union territories. Article 370 had been a temporary provision under which the state had its own constitution and flag, and Parliament’s power over it was limited to defence, external affairs and communications unless the state concurred. Article 35A, which flowed from it and defined permanent residents and their special rights, fell with it. The Supreme Court upheld the abrogation in December 2023, holding that Article 370 was a temporary provision, while directing that statehood be restored.

Answer: C

Administrators of Union Territories are responsible to the president.

Article 239 provides that every Union Territory is administered by the president through an administrator appointed by him. Unlike a governor, an administrator is an agent of the president rather than a constitutional head in his own right.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Article 330

Article 330 reserves seats in the Lok Sabha for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and Article 332 does the same for the state Legislative Assemblies. The number of reserved seats is in proportion to the population of those groups in the state, so representation matches share rather than exceeding it. There is no reservation in the Rajya Sabha or the Legislative Councils. A reserved seat is not a separate electorate. All voters in the constituency vote, and only the candidature is restricted - a deliberate rejection of the separate electorates that had been introduced under British rule, and the outcome of the Poona Pact of 1932 between Gandhi and Ambedkar. The reservation was originally to last ten years, and has been extended by amendment every decade since; the 104th Amendment of 2019 extended it to 2030 while discontinuing the nomination of Anglo-Indian members. Articles 15(4) and 16(4) permit reservation in education and public employment, and Article 46 is the directive to promote the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections.