RAS question
What is the term of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly?
Correct answer: (A) 5 years.
The normal term of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly is five years from the date fixed for its first meeting, unless it is dissolved earlier.
Explanation
The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly follows the constitutional rule for State Legislative Assemblies. Article 172 of the Constitution says that every Legislative Assembly of every State continues for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting, unless it is dissolved sooner. Once that five-year period ends, the Assembly stands dissolved. This is why the answer is five years: the term is not counted from polling day or result day, but from the first meeting of the Assembly. Earlier dissolution is also essential to the rule, because the five-year period is the normal maximum term, not an unconditional guarantee that the Assembly must last exactly five years.
Why the other options are wrong
- (B) Six years does not apply to a State Legislative Assembly's normal term; the Assembly rule in Article 172 is five years unless it is dissolved sooner.
- (C) The Assembly does have a fixed normal term, because Article 172 sets five years from its first meeting and allows earlier dissolution as an exception.
- (D) Four years is not the constitutional term for a State Legislative Assembly; the Rajasthan Assembly follows the five-year rule under Article 172.
Concept
This tests the constitutional framework of State Legislatures, especially Article 172 on the duration of Legislative Assemblies. It recurs in RAS because Rajasthan Polity questions often ask how state institutions operate under the Constitution rather than under a separate state-specific rule.