Elections, rights issues & governance

Answer: (b) 2 only

The amended Act (in force from 1 November 2016) expressly counts a deal as benami even when the recorded owner is unaware of it, lets the Government confiscate benami property, and provides an appeal route through an Adjudicating Authority and an Appellate Tribunal. Only statement 2 is correct.

• ✗ 1. The definition of a benami transaction includes an arrangement where the owner of the property is not aware of, or denies knowledge of, the ownership. Lack of awareness makes it benami; it does not exempt it.
• ✓ 2. Property held benami can be provisionally attached and then confiscated by the Government, without payment of compensation.
• ✗ 3. Income-tax officers act as Initiating Officer, Approving Authority and Administrator, and there is an Adjudicating Authority too; appeals lie to the Appellate Tribunal, so an appellate mechanism does exist.

Remember · PBPT Act (amended 2016, effective 1 Nov 2016): 'owner unaware' still counts as benami; benami property confiscated without compensation; appeals via Adjudicating Authority and Appellate Tribunal.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) the intelligence and character of ordinary men and women.

Democracy's special strength is that it draws ordinary citizens into public life and makes use of their judgement and character. Its quality depends on how widely people take part, not on a leader, a party cadre or a stronger executive.

• ✓ (a) Democracy rests on participation by ordinary people. NCERT says the quality of democracy depends on the degree of public participation.
• ✗ (b) Strengthening executive leadership is about how a government is run. It is not what makes democracy special, and democracy also stresses accountability of the executive.
• ✗ (c) Relying on a single superior individual is the opposite of democratic participation by many.
• ✗ (d) Party workers are only one part of political life. Democracy's virtue is that it involves all citizens, not a small dedicated band.

Remember · The virtue of democracy is participation: it draws on the intelligence and character of ordinary men and women, not on one leader or a small group.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 10 Democratic Politics – II, Ch 4 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 8 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) any citizen of India whose name appears in the electoral roll of a constituency.

To contest a Lok Sabha election a person must be a citizen of India and also a registered voter (an elector) in some parliamentary constituency. The constituency need not be the one he or she contests from, and mere residence or citizenship is not enough.

• ✓ (c) Article 84(a) requires Indian citizenship, and Section 4(d) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 requires the person to be an elector in any parliamentary constituency.
• ✗ (d) Citizenship alone is not enough. A citizen who is not on any electoral roll cannot be a candidate.
• ✗ (a) Residence is irrelevant, and a resident who is not a citizen (a foreigner) is barred by Article 84(a).
• ✗ (b) There is no rule that a candidate must live in, or be a voter of, the constituency contested. A voter registered in Delhi may contest from another State, apart from the exceptions in Section 4 for Assam, Lakshadweep and Sikkim.

Remember · Lok Sabha candidate: an Indian citizen aged 25 or more who is a registered voter in any parliamentary constituency of the country.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Neither 1 nor 2

Neither statement is correct. Lok Sabha and Assembly seats are won by plurality, the most votes, and not by a 50 per cent majority. The Constitution only says the House elects its Speaker and Deputy Speaker from among its members; it does not reserve either post for a party.

• ✗ 1. India uses the First Past the Post system: the candidate with more votes than every other candidate wins, and need not secure a majority of the votes polled.
• ✗ 2. Article 93 says the House of the People chooses two of its members as Speaker and Deputy Speaker. It says nothing about the majority party or the Opposition; any such sharing is only a convention, not a constitutional provision.

Remember · Lok Sabha seats are won by plurality (First Past the Post), not a 50 per cent majority. Article 93: the House elects its own Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) Constitutional Right

The right to vote comes from the Constitution itself: Article 326 says elections to the Lok Sabha and Assemblies rest on adult suffrage. It is therefore a constitutional right, but it is not one of the Fundamental Rights, which are listed in Part III (Articles 12 to 35).

• ✓ (c) Article 326 gives every citizen who is of the prescribed age and not otherwise disqualified the right to vote. Citizens equally have the right to stand for election, subject to age and other conditions set by law.
• ✗ (a) Article 326 sits in the part of the Constitution on elections, not in Part III on Fundamental Rights, so the right to vote cannot be enforced as a Fundamental Right.
• ✗ (b) A natural right is one a person is said to hold irrespective of any law. Here the right is created and regulated by the Constitution and election laws.
• ✗ (d) A legal (statutory) right rests on an ordinary Act. The right to vote is anchored in the Constitution, although the conditions are worked out by laws such as the Representation of the People Act.

Remember · Right to vote (Art. 326, adult suffrage): a constitutional right, not a Fundamental Right.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 3 only

Only statement 3 is correct. The Election Commission itself, not the Home Ministry, fixes election schedules, it is not a five-member body, and the Symbols Order gives it the power to decide disputes over splits and mergers of recognised parties.

• ✗ 1. Article 324 provides for a Chief Election Commissioner and such other Election Commissioners as the President fixes. In practice the Commission is a three-member body, the CEC and two Election Commissioners, with equal powers.
• ✗ 2. The Election Commission determines the timing of elections and prepares the election schedule. The Home Ministry does not decide it.
• ✓ 3. Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 lets the Commission decide which rival group of a recognised party is that party, and paragraph 16 deals with amalgamation of parties. Its decision on rival groups is binding.

Remember · The Election Commission fixes election schedules, is a three-member body (CEC plus two ECs), and settles party-split disputes under para 15 of the Symbols Order, 1968.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 3 (practise this chapter) · Class 11 Indian Constitution at Work, Ch 3 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2017, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error