CDS (I) 2021 General Knowledge · Question 77 of 120

Correct — A, Representatives of the states in Rajya Sabha are elected directly by the people. This is the one statement that is untrue. Article 80(4) provides that the representatives of each State in the Council of States shall be elected by the elected members of its Legislative Assembly, by proportional representation through the single transferable vote. The electorate is therefore a few hundred sitting MLAs, not the general public, which is what makes the Rajya Sabha an indirectly elected chamber and the Lok Sabha a directly elected one. The other three statements all hold: twelve members are nominated by the President under Article 80(1)(a), the Lok Sabha reserves seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under Article 330, and members from the Union territories reach the Lok Sabha by direct election.

• (b)Representatives from Union Territories in Lok Sabha are chosen by direct elections. — Correct as things stand. Article 81(1)(b) allows up to twenty members to represent the Union territories in the House of the People, chosen in such manner as Parliament may by law provide, and the law Parliament made provides for direct election.
• (c)Rajya Sabha has 12 nominated members. — Correct — Article 80(1)(a) fixes the number of nominated members at twelve, chosen by the President from persons with special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service.
• (d)Lok Sabha has seats reserved for SCs and STs. — Correct — Article 330 reserves seats in the House of the People for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, in proportion to their population in each State or Union territory. There is no such reservation in the Rajya Sabha.

The Council of States has a maximum strength of 250 under Article 80: not more than 238 representatives of the States and Union territories, plus 12 nominated by the President. State representatives are elected by the elected members of the Legislative Assembly; representatives of Union territories are chosen in such manner as Parliament prescribes. The House of the People under Article 81 has not more than 530 members from the States and not more than 20 from the Union territories, all by direct election from territorial constituencies, with seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under Article 330.

The item is a straight test of who elects whom, and the fastest route is to remember which House is which: the Council of States is the States' chamber, so the States' legislatures choose its members. It is worth noticing where each of the other three statements comes from, because they sit at different levels — the twelve nominated members and the reservation of seats are written into the Constitution itself, while direct election from the Union territories to the Lok Sabha follows from a law Parliament made under the authority of Article 81(1)(b) rather than from the constitutional text. That difference does not affect the answer here, since statement (a) contradicts Article 80(4) outright.

• Article 80(4) — representatives of a State in the Council of States are elected by the elected members of its Legislative Assembly, by proportional representation with a single transferable vote.
• Article 80(1) — the Council of States consists of 12 members nominated by the President and not more than 238 representatives of the States and Union territories, a maximum of 250.
• Nominated members are chosen for special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art and social service.
• Article 81(1) — not more than 530 members from the States and not more than 20 from the Union territories in the House of the People.
• Article 330 reserves seats in the House of the People for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; there is no such reservation in the Rajya Sabha.

• Assuming that anything called an election must be direct; the Rajya Sabha is elected, but by MLAs.
• Believing seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Rajya Sabha as well; Article 330 covers the Lok Sabha only.
• Mixing the twelve nominated members of the Rajya Sabha with the Anglo-Indian nomination to the Lok Sabha, which was allowed to lapse in 2020.

As a not-correct statements item on the composition of Parliament, or as a direct question on who elects the members of the Rajya Sabha.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The representatives of the States in the Council of States are elected by

  • (a)the people of the State directly
  • (b)the elected members of the State Legislative Assembly
  • (c)all members of the State Legislature including the Council
  • (d)the Governor of the State

  Answer(b) the elected members of the State Legislative Assembly — Article 80(4), by proportional representation with a single transferable vote.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The maximum strength of the Council of States laid down in the Constitution of India is

  • (a)238
  • (b)245
  • (c)250
  • (d)552

  Answer(c) 250 — up to 238 representatives of the States and Union territories, plus 12 nominated by the President.