Question

Which of the following statements describes a ‘Hung Parliament’?
A) A Parliament in which no party has a clear majority
B) The Prime Minister has resigned but the Parliament is not dissolved
C) Parliament locks quorums to conduct business
D) A lame-duck Parliament

Answer 1

Hint: The Parliament, which is made up of all of the representatives together, is in charge of governing and guiding the government. People, through their elected representatives, construct and control the government in this way. The Indian Parliament is the country's highest legislative body. The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha are the two Houses of Parliament.

Complete answer:
The Parliamentary system of government is a style of governance in which the Parliament has the power to establish and enforce laws. Both the Centre and the States in India have a Parliamentary system of government.

Let us look through the given options:
(A) A Parliament in which no party has a clear majority: A hung parliament is one in which no single political party has a clear majority. It is often known as a minority government in Parliamentary systems, which is one in which no single political party has an outright majority, implying that the parliament is usually evenly split. So, this option is correct.

(B) The Prime Minister has resigned but the Parliament is not dissolved: After a general election, if the prime minister resigns, the monarch customarily asks the opposition leader to form a government. If a member of the government resigns during a session of parliament, the monarch will ask another member of the government to form a government. Thus, Option B is wrong.

(C) Parliament locks quorums to conduct business: Quorum is the minimum number of members required to be present at a House or Committee meeting in order for the genuine business to be transacted. According to Article 100 of the Indian Constitution, at least 10% of the total number of members of the House must be present to form a quorum for a meeting of either House of Parliament. If a quorum is not present during a House meeting, the Chairman must either adjourn the meeting or suspend it until a quorum is present. So this is not the right answer.

(D) A lame-duck Parliament: A lame-duck session is held in Parliament, after new members are elected but before they are appointed. As a result, in such a session, participants vote for the final time as elected officials, either because they were not re-elected or because they are willingly retiring. So this is not the correct answer.

Therefore the correct answer is option (A) i.e, Parliament in which no party has a clear majority’ describes a ‘Hung Parliament’.

Note: A hung Parliament occurs when no party or pre-election alliance is able to achieve a majority in the election. In the Lok Sabha, there are a total of 543 seats. To establish the government, a party or coalition must win one seat above the 50% threshold or 272 seats.