Indian Polity & Constitution MCQs

Notes:
General majority of Parliament. This refers to the majority of more than 50% of the members present and voting. This is also known as functional majority or working majority. Simple majority is the most frequently used form of majority in Parliamentary business. When the constitution or the laws do not specify the type of majority needed, simple majority is considered for voting.

Notes:
The Indian Councils Act 1909, commonly known as the Morley-Minto Reforms, effectively legitimized the election of Indians to the various legislative councils in India for the first time. Earlier, only a limited number of Indians were appointed to legislative councils. The majorities of the councils remained British government appointments.

Notes:
The Vice President is elected indirectly, by an electoral college consisting of members of both houses of the Parliament. The election of the Vice President is slightly di fferent from the election of the President—the members of state legislatures are not part of the electoral college for Vice Presidential election. The election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting in such election is by secret ballot.

Notes:
The speaker is elected in the very first meeting of the Lok Sabha after the general elections for a term of 5 years from amongst the members of the Lok Sabha. He/she is supposed to resign from his/her original party because as a speaker, he/she has to remain impartial.

Notes:
The President of India appoints the Prime Minister of India in accordance with the power vested in him by article 75 under Part V of the Constitution. According to its provision, the President shall appoint the Prime Minister and then a council of ministers on the advice of the Prime Minister.

Notes:
The Constitution of India borrowed the following features from the Irish Constitution: concept of Directive Principles of States Policy (Ireland borrowed it from Spain); method of election of President; and the nomination of members in the Rajya Sabha by the President.

Notes:
Each House of Parliament has standing committees which are permanent and regular committees and are constituted from time to time in pursuance of the provisions of an Act of Parliament or Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Parliament. The Financial Committees, DRSCs and some other Committees come under the category of Standing Committees. These are the Committees on Subordinate Legislation, the Committee on Government Assurances, the Committee on Estimates, the Committee on Public Accounts and the Committee on Public Undertakings and Departmentally Related Standing Committees.

Notes:
The Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the people chosen by direct election on the basis of adult suffrage. That is why it is called the popular chamber. The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of India’s bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha.

Notes:
A constituency is a particular area from where all the voters living there choose their representatives. This could for example be a panchayat ward or an area that chooses an MLA. It is the basic electoral unit into which eligible electors are organized to elect representatives to a legislative or other public body.

Notes:
Article 1 in the Constitution states that India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States. The territory of India shall consist of: the territories of the states, the Union territories and any territory that may be acquired. The names of the States and the Unions have been described in the First Schedule.