State Legislature — Set 3

Correct Answer: D. None (It is an elected post)

• **No ex-officio Chairman** = unlike the Rajya Sabha (where the Vice-President is the ex-officio Chairman), the State Legislative Council has NO ex-officio Chairman — the Chairman is elected by the Council members from among themselves. • **Elected Chairman** — members of the Legislative Council elect their own Chairman and Deputy Chairman; both are full-time elected members of the Council. • 💡 Option A (Governor) is the constitutional head of the state but has no presiding role in the Council; Option B (Lieutenant Governor) heads UTs, not state Councils; Option C (Deputy Chief Minister) is a cabinet post with no presiding function in the Council.

Correct Answer: C. Four

• **Article 200 — Four options** = when a bill is presented to the Governor, he has four choices: (1) give assent, (2) withhold assent, (3) return for reconsideration (except Money Bills), or (4) reserve for President's consideration. • **Reserve for President** — the fourth option (reservation) is significant: the President then has the same four choices regarding the bill, giving the Centre a check on state legislation. • 💡 Option A (Two) — far too few; Option B (Three) — applies only to Money Bills, not ordinary bills; Option D (Five) — there is no fifth option; the four options under Article 200 are well-defined and fixed.

Correct Answer: B. Advocate General

• **Advocate General** = the Advocate General of the State (the state's chief law officer) has the right to speak and participate in the proceedings of both Houses of the State Legislature, but cannot vote. • **Article 177** — this right is enshrined in Article 177, which mirrors Article 88 for the Attorney General at the Union level. • 💡 Option A (Governor) addresses the Legislature under Article 176 but does not participate in proceedings as a speaker; Option C (Attorney General) has this right in Parliament (not state legislature); Option D (Chief Secretary) is a civil servant with no right to speak in the Legislature.

Correct Answer: D. 1/12

• **1/12 by graduates** = one-twelfth of the total members of the Legislative Council are elected by graduates of at least 3 years' standing residing in the state. • **Composition of the Council** — Article 171 specifies: 1/3 by local bodies, 1/12 by graduates, 1/12 by teachers, 1/6 nominated by Governor, 1/3 by Assembly members. • 💡 Option A (1/3) is the share for local body representatives and also for MLAs — not graduates; Option B (1/6) is the share nominated by the Governor; Option C (1/10) does not correspond to any category in the Legislative Council composition under Article 171.

Correct Answer: B. Uttar Pradesh

• **Uttar Pradesh — 403 seats** = Uttar Pradesh has the largest State Legislative Assembly in India with 403 seats, reflecting its position as the most populous state. • **Population-based allocation** — seats in the Legislative Assembly are allocated based on population; delimitation is done by the Delimitation Commission. • 💡 Option A (Bihar) has 243 seats — significantly smaller than UP; Option C (Maharashtra) has 288 seats — also less than UP; Option D (West Bengal) has 294 seats — all three are among the larger assemblies but none match Uttar Pradesh's 403.

Correct Answer: C. Presiding Officer of the House

• **Presiding Officer of the House** = a member of the Legislative Assembly resigns by writing to the Speaker; a member of the Council resigns by writing to the Chairman. • **Acceptance required** — the resignation is effective only when accepted by the Presiding Officer; if the officer has reason to believe the resignation is not genuine or voluntary, it may be withheld. • 💡 Option A (Governor) appoints and interacts with the executive — members do not submit legislative resignations to the Governor; Option B (Election Commission) handles elections, not legislative resignations; Option D (Chief Minister) is the executive head and has no role in accepting legislative resignations.

Correct Answer: C. Speaker

• **Speaker adjourns sittings** = the Speaker has the power to adjourn the daily sitting of the Legislative Assembly; adjournment suspends business for a specified period within the same session. • **Governor prorogues** — prorogation (ending a session) is done by the Governor, not the Speaker; dissolution (ending the House itself) is also the Governor's power. • 💡 Option A (Governor) prorogues sessions and dissolves the House but cannot adjourn a daily sitting; Option B (Home Minister) has no presiding function in the Assembly; Option D (Chief Minister) manages the government's legislative agenda but has no power to adjourn House sittings.

Correct Answer: B. It lapses

• **Bill lapses on dissolution** = any bill pending in the Legislative Assembly automatically lapses when the Assembly is dissolved; this includes bills at any stage of consideration. • **Council bills too** — bills passed by the Assembly but pending in the Council also lapse on the Assembly's dissolution; however, a bill pending only in the Council does not lapse. • 💡 Option A (It does not lapse) is incorrect — dissolution extinguishes all Assembly-stage bills; Option C (It goes to the Governor) has no constitutional basis for pending bills; Option D (It goes to the Council) is not what happens — there is no transfer mechanism for undecided Assembly bills upon dissolution.

Correct Answer: A. 40

• **Minimum 40 members** = Article 171 fixes the minimum strength of the State Legislative Council at 40 members, ensuring a viable deliberative chamber. • **Maximum = 1/3 of Assembly** — the maximum is one-third of the total Assembly strength; so the Council is always significantly smaller than the directly elected Assembly. • 💡 Option B (50) is not the constitutional minimum — 40 is; Option C (30) is below the minimum prescribed and not valid; Option D (60) is the minimum for the Legislative Assembly, not the Council — a common confusing trap.

Correct Answer: B. 104th Amendment

• **104th Amendment, 2019** = the 104th Constitutional Amendment Act removed the provision for nomination/reservation of Anglo-Indian seats in both Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. • **Expired January 2020** — the original provision had been extended every 10 years since 1950; the 104th Amendment ended this, effective from 25 January 2020. • 💡 Option A (102nd Amendment) gave constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes — unrelated to Anglo-Indian seats; Option C (101st Amendment) introduced GST; Option D (103rd Amendment) provided 10% EWS reservation — none of these deal with Anglo-Indian nominations.