What is the maximum number of ministers, including the Chief Minister, that the Bihar Council of Ministers can have?
- A.30
- B.34
- C.36
- D.44
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is C, 36. Article 164(1A), inserted by the Constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act of 2003, says the total number of ministers including the Chief Minister in a state shall not exceed fifteen per cent of the total number of members of the Legislative Assembly, subject to a floor of twelve. Fifteen per cent of the 243 members of the Bihar Vidhan Sabha works out to 36.45, and because a fraction of a minister is impossible the ceiling is thirty-six.
Option A, 30, and option B, 34, are what a candidate gets by rounding the Assembly strength down before taking the percentage, and 34 is in fact the ceiling for an Assembly of 230 members such as that of Madhya Pradesh. Option D, 44, is above the constitutional limit altogether and would be struck down. Note that the fifteen per cent cap is counted on the Assembly alone; the seventy-five members of the Vidhan Parishad are not added in, although a sitting member of the Council may be made a minister.
Read the full article: Bihar Governor, CM and Legislature: Articles and Facts
Practice Questions
View allHow many members are elected to the Bihar Vidhan Sabha?
- A.234
- B.240
- C.243
- D.324
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The Bihar Legislative Assembly returns 243 members from single-member territorial constituencies by universal adult suffrage, and every calculation about the state, from the majority mark to the ceiling on the Council of Ministers, is worked out from that figure.
Read the full explanation →How many members does the Bihar Vidhan Parishad have?
- A.60
- B.75
- C.81
- D.96
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The Bihar Legislative Council, the second chamber of the state legislature, has seventy-five members. Article 171 allows a Legislative Council a strength of not more than one-third of the Assembly of the state and not fewer than forty, and seventy-five sits comfortably inside that band for an Assembly of 243.
Read the full explanation →Who administers the oath of office to the Governor of Bihar?
- A.The President of India
- B.The Chief Minister of Bihar
- C.The Chief Justice of the Patna High Court
- D.The Chief Justice of India
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Article 159 says that before entering upon his office the Governor shall make and subscribe an oath before the Chief Justice of the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to that state, or in his absence before the senior-most judge of that court available.
Read the full explanation →Which Article of the Constitution provides for a Council of Ministers to aid and advise the Governor of a state?
- A.Article 161
- B.Article 163
- C.Article 164
- D.Article 167
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It provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is required to exercise them in his discretion, and it adds that the question whether…
Read the full explanation →Who was the first Chief Minister of Bihar?
- A.Anugrah Narayan Sinha
- B.Shri Krishna Sinha
- C.Sachchidananda Sinha
- D.Rajendra Prasad
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He headed the government of Bihar from 1946, continued as Chief Minister after the Constitution came into force, and remained in office until his death in 1961, which makes his one of the longest unbroken tenures in the early history of any state.
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