SSC
According to the Preamble, India is a 'Republic'. This means that:
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Answer: Option B — The head of the State is elected and not hereditary
Detailed Solution
The Preamble declares India to be a "Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic". Each word has a specific meaning:
Sovereign: India is free from external control and is an independent state; it can make its own decisions on internal and external matters.
Socialist: the State aims to end poverty, inequality and exploitation; India follows "democratic socialism" with a mixed economy (added in 1976).
Secular: the State has no official religion and treats all religions equally (added in 1976).
Democratic: the government is elected by the people, through universal adult franchise, and is responsible to them.
Republic: the head of the State is elected, directly or indirectly, for a fixed period, and the office is not hereditary.
In India, the head of the State is the President, who is elected indirectly by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament and of the Legislative Assemblies of the states and of the UTs of Delhi and Puducherry. The President holds office for five years. A republic also means that political sovereignty lies with the people, and all public offices are open to every citizen without discrimination.
In contrast, a monarchy has a hereditary head of state. For example, the United Kingdom is a democracy but not a republic, because its head of state is a hereditary monarch. India is both a democracy and a republic.
India became a republic on 26 January 1950, when the Constitution came into force. Dr Rajendra Prasad became the first President. Until then, India was a dominion of the British Commonwealth, with the British King as its formal head and a Governor-General as his representative. India remained a member of the Commonwealth even after becoming a republic, under the London Declaration of 1949. Republic Day is celebrated on 26 January every year.
Why not the other options?
- ✗A parliamentary form of government is a separate feature, borrowed from Britain.
- ✗Freedom from external control is the meaning of "sovereign".
- ✗A written Constitution is a separate feature.
Quick tip
Remember: Republic = elected (not hereditary) head of state; Sovereign = independent; Democratic = government by the people; India became a republic on 26 January 1950 (first President Rajendra Prasad).
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Preamble & Salient Features — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Preamble & Salient Features, 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 the Preamble of the Indian Constitution, the meaning of its key words (sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic, justice, liberty, equality and fraternity), and the salient features of the Constitution, such as its federal structure with a unitary bias and the parliamentary form of government. Remember that the words 'socialist', 'secular' and 'integrity' were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976, the only time the Preamble has been amended. Questions also test landmark cases on the Preamble: the Supreme Court held in the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) that the Preamble is part of the Constitution. Practise the Preamble and salient features 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.