UPSC Prelims 1997·GS1·polity-and-governance·constitution

In the Presidential election in India, every elected member of the Legislative Assembly of a State shall have as many votes as there are multiples of one thousand in the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the State by the total number of the elected members of the Assembly. As at present (1997) the expression “population” here means the population as ascertained by the

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Last updated 23 May 2026, 3:31 pm IST
  1. A1991 Census
  2. B1981 Census
  3. C1971 CensusCorrect
  4. D1961 Census

Explanation

The correct answer is C because of the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976. This amendment froze the population figures used for calculating the value of votes in Presidential elections at the 1971 Census level. This was done to ensure that states implementing family planning measures were not penalized with a decrease in political representation. Although the question refers to 1997, this freeze was later extended until the first census after 2026 by the 84th Amendment Act of 2001. Therefore, the 1971 Census remains the current standard for defining population in this context.
polity-and-governance: In the Presidential election in India, every elected member of the Legislative Assembly of a State shall have as many vo

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