Directions for the following 2 (two) items: Consider the given information and answer the two items that follow.
No supporters of ‘party X’, who knew Z and supported his campaign strategy, agreed for the alliance with ‘party Y’; but some of them had friends in ‘party Y’.
With reference to the above information, which one among the following statements must be true?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) There is at least one supporter of ‘party Y’ who knew some supporters of ‘party X’ as a friend.
The information is about a group of party X supporters who knew Z and backed his campaign strategy, and it says some of them had friends in party Y. So at least one person in party Y has a party X supporter as a friend.
- Call the group described G: supporters of party X who knew Z and supported his campaign strategy.
- 'Some of them had friends in party Y' tells us that G is not empty and that at least one member of G has a friend in party Y.
- Friendship works both ways, so that person in party Y knows a supporter of party X as a friend — option (b).
- Check (c) and (d): G itself consists of party X supporters who knew Z and backed his strategy, so both 'No …' statements are false.
- ✗ (a) The information says nothing about how party Y's supporters viewed the alliance; it speaks only of party X supporters.
- ✓ (b) Some members of the group had friends in party Y, so at least one person in party Y counts a party X supporter as a friend.
- ✗ (c) The group described consists of party X supporters who did support Z's strategy, so this is false.
- ✗ (d) The same group knew Z, so it is false that no party X supporter knew Z.
Remember · 'Some of them' confirms the group exists. A 'No …' statement fails as soon as one member of that group is shown to exist.
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper II (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·