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UPSC Prelims 2026 · Polity · Parliament, Bills & Budget
Consider the following statements in respect of questions asked by the Members in the Parliament of India:
- Unstarred questions are those to which a Member desires an oral answer in the House.
- Starred questions are those to which a Member desires a written answer.
- No supplementary question can be asked on an unstarred question.
- (a) All the three statements are correct.
- (b) There are two correct statements, that include statement 2.
- (c) There is only one correct statement.
- (d) There is no correct statement.
Show the answer and explanation
Answer: (c) There is only one correct statement.
Only statement 3 is right: supplementaries only on starred questions.
Statement by statement
1. ✗ WRONG — that is a starred question An unstarred question gets a written answer, laid on the Table.
2. ✗ WRONG — starred = oral A starred question (marked with an asterisk) is answered orally on the floor.
3. ✓ CORRECT Because the answer is only written, there is no floor exchange — supplementaries follow only starred questions.
The idea
Three kinds of question in Question Hour: Starred — oral answer, supplementaries allowed. Unstarred — written answer, no supplementaries. Short notice — on urgent public importance, less than ten days’ notice, oral answer. The official 2026 key comes after the final result; this is our answer.
Starred * → oral + supplementaries → Unstarred → written, no supplementaries → Short notice → urgent, oral
Why the others are wrong
(a) 1 and 2 have the definitions swapped.
(b) Statement 2 is wrong — starred means oral.
(d) Statement 3 is correct, so at least one survives.
The trap
Statements 1 and 2 swap the definitions, so if you remember only “one is oral, one is written”, both look right.
🔒 Starred = * = spoken (oral + supplementaries) · Unstarred = written, no supplementaries · Short-notice = urgent, < 10 days.
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