RAS question
Rajasthan State Election Commission:
Correct answer: (C) Conducts PRI and ULB elections.
The Rajasthan State Election Commission conducts elections for Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies.
Explanation
Article 243K is the constitutional anchor for the State Election Commission. Rajasthan District Gazetteers, Karauli records that the State Election Commission of Rajasthan was constituted in July 1994 under Article 243K of the Constitution of India. Its role is tied to local self-government elections: after constitution of the SEC, general elections to Panchayati Raj Institutions were conducted by it, and the Commission discharges its constitutional duty by preparing electoral rolls and holding elections for Panchayati Raj Institutions as well as Urban Local Bodies. That is why the operative function is not Parliament, Rajya Sabha, or the President, but PRI and ULB elections.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Parliamentary elections belong to a different electoral field; the Rajasthan SEC's role is tied to Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies.
- (B) Rajya Sabha elections are not the local-body elections handled by the Rajasthan SEC; its mandate here concerns PRIs and ULBs.
- (D) Presidential election is outside the Rajasthan SEC's election role, which concerns PRIs and ULBs.
Concept
This tests the constitutional design of decentralised governance after the 73rd and 74th Amendment framework. RAS repeats it because Rajasthan polity questions often distinguish the State Election Commission's local-body mandate from parliamentary and other constitutional elections.