State Legislature — Set 6

Correct Answer: A. Direct election by people

• **Direct election by people** = MLAs are elected by direct election on the basis of universal adult franchise; every citizen of India aged 18 or above can vote in the constituency where they are registered. • **First Past the Post** — the electoral system used is FPTP (First Past the Post); the candidate with the highest votes in a constituency wins, even without an absolute majority. • 💡 Option B (Electoral college) is how the President is elected — not MLAs; Option C (Indirect election) is how MLCs and Rajya Sabha members are elected — MLAs are directly chosen by voters; Option D (Nomination) applies to the Governor's 1/6 nominees to the Council, not to MLAs.

Correct Answer: D. Chief Minister

• **Chief Minister leads the Assembly** = the Chief Minister is normally the Leader of the House (Legislative Assembly) if he is a member of the Assembly; he sets the legislative agenda. • **CM from Council** — if the Chief Minister is a member of the Legislative Council rather than the Assembly, he nominates another senior minister (usually the Deputy CM or a key cabinet member) to be the Leader of the Assembly. • 💡 Option A (Governor) is the constitutional head of state and not the Leader of the House — the Governor's relationship with the legislature is ceremonial; Option B (Deputy Speaker) is a presiding officer, not the government's leader in the House; Option C (Speaker) is the presiding officer who must be impartial and is never the government's leader.

Correct Answer: D. 10th Schedule

• **10th Schedule** = the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution contains the Anti-Defection Law, disqualifying members who voluntarily give up party membership or vote against party directions. • **52nd Amendment, 1985** — the 10th Schedule was added by the Constitution (52nd Amendment) Act, 1985, during Rajiv Gandhi's government to curb political defections. • 💡 Option A (9th Schedule) protects laws from judicial review — added by the 1st Amendment, 1951; Option B (7th Schedule) contains the three lists (Union, State, Concurrent); Option C (8th Schedule) lists the recognized languages of India — none of these deal with defection.

Correct Answer: B. No

• **No — cannot hold both seats** = a person cannot be a member of both the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council simultaneously; if elected to both, they must vacate one. • **Must choose one** — state law provides for the mechanism: typically a notice is given and if no choice is made within the specified time, the first seat vacated by operation of law is determined by a draw. • 💡 Option A (Yes, with Governor's permission) — there is no constitutional provision that the Governor can grant dual membership; Option C (Yes, for 6 months) — there is no grace period for holding both seats simultaneously; Option D (Yes) — flatly incorrect; dual membership in both Houses is expressly barred.

Correct Answer: D. Election Commission of India

• **Election Commission of India** = the ECI prepares and maintains the electoral rolls (voter lists) used for State Legislature elections under Article 325 and the Representation of the People Act. • **Single electoral roll** — Article 325 mandates a single electoral roll for every territorial constituency, common to all elections (Parliamentary and Assembly); no separate rolls for state and central elections. • 💡 Option A (State Government) has no constitutional authority to prepare electoral rolls for state legislature elections; Option B (Delimitation Commission) determines constituency boundaries but does not prepare voter rolls; Option C (State Election Commission) prepares rolls only for local body elections — not Assembly elections.

Correct Answer: D. President

• **President's assent required** = once a Governor reserves a state bill for the President's consideration under Article 200, it is the President who decides — the Governor's role ends entirely. • **President's three choices** — the President may: (1) assent, (2) withhold assent, or (3) return the bill to the state legislature for reconsideration (if it is not a Money Bill). • 💡 Option A (Speaker) certifies Money Bills but has no role in giving assent to a reserved bill; Option B (Chief Justice) has no role in the legislative assent process; Option C (Governor) reserved the bill and thereafter steps out — the Governor cannot assent to a bill they have already reserved.

Correct Answer: B. Bihar

• **Bihar has a Legislative Council** = Bihar is one of the 6 states with a bicameral legislature (Vidhan Parishad); the Bihar Legislative Council currently has 75 members. • **Six bicameral states** — the complete list: Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana; all other states are unicameral. • 💡 Option A (Gujarat) is unicameral — it has only a Vidhan Sabha; Option C (Rajasthan) passed a resolution but no Council currently exists; Option D (Punjab) is also unicameral — it abolished its Council in 1969, one of the early abolitions.

Correct Answer: D. A Tie

• **Casting vote in case of a tie** = the Speaker does not vote in the normal course; the Speaker exercises a 'casting vote' only when there is an equality of votes (a tie) to break the deadlock. • **Convention — against change** — by established convention, the Speaker uses the casting vote to maintain the status quo (against the motion/bill), preventing change without a clear majority. • 💡 Option A (Ordinary Bills) — the Speaker does not vote on ordinary bills in the first instance; Option B (Impeachment) — the Speaker votes in no special category of business outside of tie-breaking; Option C (Money Bills) — Money Bills also do not trigger Speaker's vote unless there is a tie.

Correct Answer: D. Governor

• **Governor summons sessions** = the Governor summons each House of the State Legislature to meet under Article 174(1); the Governor also prorogues sessions and can dissolve the Assembly. • **On cabinet advice** — the Governor acts on the advice of the Council of Ministers headed by the CM when summoning or proroguing; in practice the cabinet decides the session dates. • 💡 Option A (Law Minister) is a cabinet minister who may advise on sessions but has no constitutional authority to summon; Option B (Chief Minister) advises the Governor but the summons is formally issued by the Governor, not the CM; Option C (Speaker) adjourns sittings but cannot summon or prorogue — that power is exclusively the Governor's.

Correct Answer: D. One-third of the Legislative Assembly

• **One-third of the Assembly** = Article 171 caps the maximum strength of the Legislative Council at one-third of the total membership of the Legislative Assembly of that state. • **Minimum 40** — regardless of the one-third calculation, the Council must have at least 40 members; so the band is: 40 members (minimum) to 1/3 of Assembly (maximum). • 💡 Option A (Equal to the Legislative Assembly) would give the unelected Council the same size as the elected Assembly — constitutionally impossible; Option B (One-fourth) is below the 1/3 cap but not the prescribed maximum; Option C (Half of the Legislative Assembly) exceeds the 1/3 cap and is not the constitutional provision.