Parliament & the Union executive

Answer: (b) 2 only

Only the 1969 statement stands. The Communist Party of India, with 16 seats, was the largest opposition party in the first Lok Sabha, and the threshold for recognising a party (and so its leader) is one-tenth of the House, not 75 members.

• ✗ 1. In the first general election (1951–52) the CPI won 16 seats and became the largest opposition party. The Swatantra Party did not yet exist; it was founded in 1959.
• ✓ 2. Until 1969 the opposition had no formally recognised leader in the Lok Sabha. After the Congress split, Ram Subhag Singh of the Congress (O) was recognised in December 1969; the post got statutory backing in 1977.
• ✗ 3. The Speaker's Direction 121 requires a party to have at least the quorum strength, i.e. one-tenth of the House's members (about 55), not 75.

Remember · Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha: first recognised 1969 (Ram Subhag Singh); statutory since the 1977 Act; party needs one-tenth of the House (about 55 members).

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Politics in India since Independence, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) Committee on Subordinate Legislation

Laws passed by Parliament often leave the details to the executive, which fills them in through rules, regulations and bye-laws. Each House has a Committee on Subordinate Legislation to check that this delegated power is used only within the limits Parliament or the Constitution set.

• ✓ (b) In the Rajya Sabha this committee is constituted under Rules 204–206 of its Rules of Procedure; the Lok Sabha has its own committee of the same name.
• ✗ (a) The Committee on Government Assurances tracks whether promises and undertakings given by Ministers on the floor of the House are carried out.
• ✗ (c) The Rules Committee considers the House's own rules of procedure and conduct of business and recommends amendments; it does not examine executive rule-making.

Remember · Delegated (subordinate) legislation = rules, regulations, bye-laws made by the executive under an Act; watched over by the Committee on Subordinate Legislation in each House.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (c) A Money Bill is concerned with the appropriation of moneys out of the Contingency Fund of India.

Statement (c) is the incorrect one. Article 110(1) lets a Money Bill deal with appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India, not out of the Contingency Fund of India.

• ✓ (c) This is the statement that is not correct, so it is the answer. Article 110(1)(d) speaks only of 'the appropriation of moneys out of the Consolidated Fund of India'. The Contingency Fund is mentioned in clause (c), which covers custody of the Fund and payments into it or withdrawals from it, not appropriation.
• ✗ (a) This statement is true (Article 110(1)(a)): a Bill with only provisions on imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax is a Money Bill.
• ✗ (b) This statement is true (Article 110(1)(c)): custody of the Consolidated Fund or the Contingency Fund of India, and payment of moneys into or withdrawal from them, is a Money Bill matter.
• ✗ (d) This statement is true (Article 110(1)(b)): regulation of borrowing and the giving of guarantees by the Government of India is a Money Bill matter.

Remember · Article 110: Money Bill matters include tax, borrowing, custody of the Consolidated and Contingency Funds, and appropriation out of the Consolidated Fund only. The Speaker's decision on whether a Bill is a Money Bill is final.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

Only statement 1 is correct: under Article 55 an MLA's vote value is worked out from the population of his or her State, so it differs from State to State. Every elected MP, of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha, has the same vote value.

• ✓ 1. Article 55(2)(a) gives each MLA as many votes as there are multiples of one thousand in the State's population divided by the number of its elected MLAs. Population and the size of the Assembly differ from State to State, so the vote value differs too.
• ✗ 2. Article 55(2)(c) gives each elected MP of either House the same number of votes: the total of all MLAs' vote values divided by the total number of elected MPs of both Houses. So a Lok Sabha MP's vote is worth exactly as much as a Rajya Sabha MP's.

Remember · President's election (Art. 55): MLA vote value depends on the State's population; every elected MP has one common vote value, whichever House he or she sits in.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (a) 1 only

The Speaker of a state Legislative Assembly must vacate office on ceasing to be a member of the Assembly, but does not leave office when the Assembly is dissolved. Article 179 lets the Speaker continue until just before the first meeting of the new Assembly.

• ✓ 1. Article 179(a) says a Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall vacate office if he ceases to be a member of the Assembly, for example on disqualification or losing a seat.
• ✗ 2. The second proviso to Article 179 says that on dissolution the Speaker shall not vacate office until immediately before the first meeting of the Assembly after the dissolution. So there is no immediate vacation.

Remember · On dissolution the Speaker stays in office until just before the new Assembly's first meeting (Article 179; Article 94 for the Lok Sabha Speaker).

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) the powers of the Legislature of that State shall be exercisable by or under the authority of the Parliament.

Under Article 356 the President can declare that the State Legislature's powers will be exercised by or under the authority of Parliament. This is the constitutional core of President's Rule, and it is the option that uses the Article's own words.

• ✓ (b) Article 356(1)(b) allows the President to declare that the powers of the State Legislature shall be exercisable by or under Parliament's authority.
• ✗ (d) The President does not get lawmaking power directly from the Proclamation. Under Article 357, Parliament may confer on the President the State Legislature's power to make laws.
• ✗ (a) Article 356 does not dissolve the Assembly. It only takes over the Legislature's powers, so the Assembly can stay in suspended animation.
• ✗ (c) Article 19 is suspended under Article 358, and only while an Emergency for war or external aggression is in operation. A President's Rule Proclamation under Article 356 does not suspend it.

Remember · Article 356 (President's Rule): the State Legislature's powers pass to Parliament; the President legislates only if Parliament confers that power (Art. 357). Art. 19 is suspended only under Art. 358.

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error