RAS question
If a Panchayat is dissolved before completing its 5-year term, elections must be held within:
Correct answer: (B) 6 months.
If a Panchayat is dissolved before completing its five-year term, Article 243E requires the election to constitute the next Panchayat to be completed within six months of dissolution.
Explanation
Article 243E fixes both the normal life of a Panchayat and the deadline after early dissolution. A Panchayat ordinarily continues for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting. If it is dissolved before that period ends, the election to constitute the Panchayat must be completed before six months expire from the date of dissolution. This is why six months, not three months or one year, is the constitutional time limit. The Article also prevents a fresh full term after such dissolution: the newly constituted Panchayat continues only for the remainder of the period for which the dissolved Panchayat would have continued.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Three months is shorter than the constitutional deadline; Article 243E gives up to six months from the date of dissolution.
- (C) One year goes beyond Article 243E, which requires the election to be completed before six months expire from dissolution.
- (D) There is a definite constitutional deadline: the election must be completed within six months of the Panchayat's dissolution.
Concept
This tests the constitutional framework for Panchayati Raj institutions, especially Article 243E on tenure and reconstitution. It recurs in RAS because local self-government provisions are central to Rajasthan's political and administrative system.