UPSC Prelims 2017 · Question 40 of 99
UPSC Prelims 2017 question on Election Commission Composition Disputes
- ExamUPSC CSE
- Year2017
- PaperGeneral Studies Paper I
- SubjectPolity
- TopicConstitutional Bodies
- DifficultyEasy
- TypeStatement
Consider the following statements:
1. The Election Commission of India is a five-member body.
2. Union Ministry of Home Affairs decides the election schedule for the conduct of both general elections and bye-elections.
3. Election Commission resolves the disputes relating to splits/mergers of recognized political parties.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Show answer
Answer: D. 3 only
Verdict
The answer is 3 only. The Election Commission resolves disputes over splits and mergers of recognised parties, but it is a three member body and it, not the Home Ministry, fixes the election schedule.
Analysis
Statement 3 is CORRECT. Deciding disputes relating to splits in and mergers of recognised political parties, including allotment of the party symbol, is a function of the Commission. Statement 1 is INCORRECT. The Election Commission is a three member body, a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners, not five. Statement 2 is INCORRECT. The Commission announces the schedule for general elections and bye elections; the Ministry of Home Affairs has no such power.
Source
M. Laxmikanth, Indian Polity, chapter on the Election Commission.
How to crack it
Statement 2 fails on the principle rather than the detail, because an election authority whose calendar could be set by a government ministry would not be independent, and independence is the whole design of Article 324. Ask whether a claimed arrangement would compromise the body's constitutional purpose, and if it would, it is almost certainly false. On composition, remember the Commission has been single member and multi member at different times but has been three member since 1993.