UPPSC 2025 Prelims GS Paper-I · Question 33 of 150

Correct — A, A-2, B-4, C-3, D-1. Taking the four Houses in turn: the 11th Lok Sabha (1996-1998) elected P. A. Sangma of Meghalaya as Speaker, so A-2. The 12th Lok Sabha (1998-1999) elected G. M. C. Balayogi of Andhra Pradesh — the first Dalit to hold the chair — so B-4. The 14th Lok Sabha (2004-2009) elected Somnath Chatterjee of the CPI(M), so C-3. The 17th Lok Sabha (2019-2024) elected Om Birla, the member from Kota, so D-1. Notice that D-1 is identical in all four options, so the question is decided entirely by A, B and C; the pairing that separates the correct option from the rest is A-2, that is, Sangma with the 11th Lok Sabha and not with the 12th.

• (b)A-3, B-2, C-4, D-1 — It shifts every name one slot. Somnath Chatterjee is placed in the 11th Lok Sabha although he was Speaker of the 14th (2004-2009); Sangma is pushed to the 12th although he presided over the 11th; and Balayogi is placed in the 14th although he held the chair in the 12th and 13th.
• (c)A-4, B-2, C-3, D-1 — This is the sharpest trap: it gets the 14th and 17th right but swaps the two consecutive late-1990s Speakers. Sangma came first, in the 11th Lok Sabha elected in 1996; Balayogi followed in the 12th, elected in 1998. Anyone who remembers the two names but not their order will land here.
• (d)A-2, B-3, C-4, D-1 — It starts correctly with Sangma in the 11th Lok Sabha but then puts Somnath Chatterjee in the 12th and Balayogi in the 14th. Chatterjee entered the chair only in 2004, and Balayogi had already died in office in March 2002, so neither pairing is possible.

Under Article 93 the House of the People chooses two of its own members to be Speaker and Deputy Speaker. The Speaker is the presiding officer and the final authority on the conduct of the House: certifying Money Bills under Article 110(3), deciding questions of disqualification on the ground of defection under the Tenth Schedule, presiding over a joint sitting of the two Houses, and exercising a casting vote only in the event of a tie. The office does not lapse with the House — under Article 94 the Speaker vacates only immediately before the first meeting of the newly elected Lok Sabha — and a resignation is addressed to the Deputy Speaker. Removal requires a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members, after fourteen days' notice.

Match-the-list questions on office-holders are best attacked by first striking out what is common to all options. Here every option carries D-1, so Om Birla with the 17th Lok Sabha is free information and the marks turn on the 1990s pairs. The safe way to hold this list is chronologically rather than by number: Sangma (1996) → Balayogi (1998, continuing into the 13th) → Manohar Joshi (2002) → Somnath Chatterjee (2004) → Meira Kumar (2009) → Sumitra Mahajan (2014) → Om Birla (2019, and again from 2024). Convert that ladder into House numbers only at the end. Note also that Balayogi occupied the chair across two Lok Sabhas, so his name alone does not pin a single House — the 12th is the one offered here.

• 11th Lok Sabha (1996-1998): Speaker P. A. Sangma of Meghalaya — so far the only Speaker of the Lok Sabha from the North-East
• 12th Lok Sabha (1998-1999): Speaker G. M. C. Balayogi of Andhra Pradesh, the first Dalit Speaker; he continued as Speaker in the 13th Lok Sabha and died in office in March 2002, after which Manohar Joshi completed that term
• 14th Lok Sabha (2004-2009): Speaker Somnath Chatterjee of the CPI(M), who was expelled by his party in July 2008 for declining to vacate the chair during the confidence vote
• 17th Lok Sabha (2019-2024): Speaker Om Birla, member from Kota, who was re-elected Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha in June 2024
• In between: Meira Kumar (15th, 2009-2014) was the first woman Speaker and Sumitra Mahajan held the chair in the 16th (2014-2019)
• Article 93 provides for the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker; Article 94 covers vacation, resignation (addressed to the Deputy Speaker) and removal from the office

• Swapping P. A. Sangma and G. M. C. Balayogi, who held the chair back to back in 1996 and 1998
• Placing the best-known name — Somnath Chatterjee — in the earliest slot instead of the 14th Lok Sabha (2004-2009)
• Forgetting that Balayogi presided over two Lok Sabhas (12th and 13th) and that Manohar Joshi completed the 13th after his death in 2002

UPPSC asks the roster directly — match the House number or the 'first woman/first Dalit' label to the name; UPSC prefers the constitutional side of the same office, such as to whom the Speaker resigns, what majority removes him, or whether the office survives dissolution of the House.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Who was the Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha (2004-2009)?

  • (a)Manohar Joshi
  • (b)Somnath Chatterjee
  • (c)Meira Kumar
  • (d)P. A. Sangma

  Answer(b) Somnath Chatterjee — Manohar Joshi completed the 13th Lok Sabha's term after Balayogi's death, and Meira Kumar presided over the 15th.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, if he/she wishes to resign, addresses the letter of resignation to:

  • (a)The President of India
  • (b)The Prime Minister
  • (c)The Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha
  • (d)The Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha

  Answer(c) The Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha — Article 94(b); correspondingly, the Deputy Speaker resigns by writing to the Speaker.