Which of the following Chief Minister faced President’s Rule in Rajasthan for maximum number of times ?

Correct — option (2), Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly's record of House tenures lists four spells of President's Rule in the state: 1967, 1977, 1980 and 1992–93. The way to answer is to match each spell to the Chief Minister whose term it interrupted.

The 1967 spell came between two terms of Mohan Lal Sukhadia. The 1977 spell replaced Hari Dev Joshi's government. The spells that began on 17 February 1980 and 15 December 1992 both ended governments led by Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

That makes Shekhawat the only name in the options linked to two spells. Joshi is linked to one. None of the four spells falls in the terms of Jai Narayan Vyas or Shiv Charan Mathur.

Shekhawat returned to office after the second spell. The Tenth Assembly was constituted on 4 December 1993, and he was Chief Minister through that House until 1998.

Count the spells against the Chief Minister in office when each began — four spells, three Chief Ministers, and only Shekhawat appears twice.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Hari Dev Joshi — Joshi is the Chief Minister whose government was replaced by President's Rule in 1977, from 30 April to 21 June 1977, after the Janata Party came to power at the Centre.

  He was Chief Minister three times (1973–77, 1985–88 and 1989–90), which can make him look like the likeliest answer. Only his first term ended in President's Rule, so he faced it once.

• (3)
  Jai Narayan Vyas — Vyas belongs to the early elected governments of the 1950s. The Assembly's record of democratic governments shows him as Chief Minister from 26 April 1951 to 2 March 1952, and he held the office again during the First Assembly (1952–57).

  The first President's Rule in Rajasthan came in March 1967, more than a decade after his terms, so he never faced it as Chief Minister.

• (4)
  Shiv Charan Mathur — Mathur was Chief Minister twice, in 1981–85 and 1988–89. Both terms fall between the 1980 and 1992 spells, so neither ended in President's Rule.

  He is a known answer elsewhere: RPSC's 2018 key names him, with Ashok Gehlot, among Chief Ministers who had not been Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly.

President's Rule is imposed under Article 356 of the Constitution. When the President is satisfied, on the Governor's report or otherwise, that the government of a state cannot be carried on in accordance with the Constitution, the President can take over the state's executive functions.

The state Legislative Assembly is then either suspended or dissolved. Parliament must approve the proclamation within two months for it to continue.

In practice the Governor runs the state on the President's behalf. The elected Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister is out of office until a new government is formed.

In S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994), the Supreme Court held that a proclamation under Article 356 is open to judicial review, and that the floor of the House is the place to test a government's majority.

Key facts

• The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly's record lists four President's Rule spells in the state: 1967, 1977, 1980 and 1992–93.
• President's Rule ran from 13 March to 26 April 1967, between two terms of Mohan Lal Sukhadia.
• President's Rule ran from 30 April to 21 June 1977, after Hari Dev Joshi's government.
• Bhairon Singh Shekhawat's governments were followed by President's Rule from 17 February to 5 June 1980 and from 15 December 1992 to 3 December 1993.
• The 1992–93 spell, lasting almost a year, was the longest of the four.

Common traps

• "Faced" President's Rule means the Chief Minister whose term it interrupted, not the one who took office when it ended. Jagannath Pahadia became Chief Minister after the 1980 spell; he did not face it.
• A Chief Minister with many terms is not automatically the one with the most spells. Hari Dev Joshi held office three times but is linked to only one spell.
• The 1967 spell is easy to drop from the count because Sukhadia was Chief Minister both before and after it. Leaving it out gives three spells instead of four.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2023, 2016 and 2013 here once those papers are published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  As of January 2025, how many times had President's Rule been imposed in Rajasthan?

  • (a)3
  • (b)4
  • (c)5
  • (d)6
  Answer(2) — the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly lists four spells: 1967, 1977, 1980 and 1992–93. Option (1) leaves out one of the four, such as the short 1967 spell. Options (3) and (4) count spells that do not appear in the Assembly's list.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Who became Chief Minister of Rajasthan when President's Rule ended in June 1980?

  • (a)Shiv Charan Mathur
  • (b)Jagannath Pahadia
  • (c)Hari Dev Joshi
  • (d)Hira Lal Devpura
  Answer(2) — the Seventh Assembly was constituted on 6 June 1980 and Jagannath Pahadia was its first Chief Minister. Shiv Charan Mathur (1) succeeded Pahadia in 1981. Hira Lal Devpura (4) held office briefly in 1985. Hari Dev Joshi (3) returned as Chief Minister in 1985, not 1980.