UPSC Prelims 2018— Question 53

**Concept and analysis:** Under Article 356, when constitutional machinery in a state is considered to have failed, the President may assume functions of the state government and declare that the powers of the state legislature shall be exercisable by or under the authority of Parliament. The Assembly is not automatically dissolved; it may be kept in suspended animation or dissolved subject to constitutional procedure. Article 19 is not automatically suspended by President's Rule. The question is testing precise UPSC-level identification rather than a broad association. The key is to distinguish the exact institutional, constitutional, historical, geographical, economic or scientific feature being asked. **Option-wise evaluation** **Option A:** Incorrect. the Assembly of the State is automatically dissolved. is a different institution, place, definition, proposition or description and does not satisfy the specific requirement of the question. **Option B:** Correct. the powers of the Legislature of that State shall be exercisable by or under the authority of the Parliament. directly matches the concept or factual identification established in the analysis. **Option C:** Incorrect. Article 19 is suspended in that State. is a different institution, place, definition, proposition or description and does not satisfy the specific requirement of the question. **Option D:** Incorrect. the President can make laws relating to that State. is a different institution, place, definition, proposition or description and does not satisfy the specific requirement of the question. **UPSC takeaway:** The safest way to solve this type of question is to anchor the answer in the defining feature of the concept and then test every option against that feature. Closely related institutions or terms are often used as distractors. In statement-based questions, do not judge the option as a whole before checking each statement independently. In factual questions, compare the wording of each option with the exact definition, location, institutional role, chronology or scientific property. The correct answer follows from that verification rather than from familiarity with a keyword.