SSC
The superintendence, direction and control of elections to Parliament, the State Legislatures and the offices of President and Vice-President are vested in the Election Commission by:
Answer (Detailed Solution Below)View answer ▾Hide ▴
Answer: Option A — Article 324
Detailed Solution
Article 324 vests the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and the conduct of all elections to Parliament, the State Legislatures, and the offices of the President and the Vice-President in the Election Commission of India.
Composition of the Election Commission:
- The Election Commission consists of the Chief Election Commissioner and such number of other Election Commissioners as the President may fix from time to time.
- From 1950 to 1989, it was a single-member body, with only the Chief Election Commissioner.
- Since 1993, it has been a three-member body: the Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
- All decisions are taken by majority, and they have equal powers.
Appointment and removal:
- They are appointed by the President, under a law passed by Parliament in 2023, on the recommendation of a selection committee.
- The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed only in the same manner and on the same grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court.
- The other Election Commissioners can be removed only on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner.
Functions of the Election Commission:
- To prepare and revise the electoral rolls, and register voters.
- To fix the schedule of elections and conduct them.
- To recognise political parties and allot election symbols to them.
- To enforce the Model Code of Conduct during elections.
History:
- The Election Commission was set up on 25 January 1950, a day before India became a republic.
- Sukumar Sen was the first Chief Election Commissioner; he conducted the first general elections of 1951-52.
National Voters' Day:
25 January is observed as National Voters' Day since 2011.
State Election Commissions:
Elections to panchayats and municipalities are conducted by the State Election Commissions, not by the Election Commission of India.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Article 148 deals with the Comptroller and Auditor-General; Article 315 with the Public Service Commissions; Article 280 with the Finance Commission.
Quick tip
Remember: Article 324 = Election Commission (superintendence, direction and control of elections); set up on 25 January 1950; first CEC Sukumar Sen.
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Constitutional & Statutory Bodies — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Constitutional & Statutory Bodies, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers bodies set up under the Constitution, such as the Election Commission, UPSC, Finance Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General and the national commissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and statutory or executive bodies such as NITI Aayog, the NHRC, the CVC, the CBI and Lokpal. Questions often ask whether a body is constitutional or not, which article creates it, who appoints its head and for how long. For example, the CAG is appointed under Article 148, the Finance Commission under Article 280, and NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission in 2015 by an executive resolution. Practise the constitutional and statutory bodies questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.