How to Prepare for Polity Section of GK?

Polity is an important yet highly challenging part of the GK section. Its importance varies substantially between entrances. It is of moderate importance to applicants of management, banking or media, but of substantial significance to civil applicants. On the other hand, Polity is especially crucial to Law aspirants, as there it not only fetches some questions in the GK segment, there are also related aspects in the segment called Legal Aptitude which is a part of CLAT and AILET exams. However, a common fallacy that students commit is mix up between these two segments. While Polity is a part of the GK segment, the questions are comparatively more broad based. Highly specific questions though are limited to the legal aptitude portion.

Students preparing for this topic must prepare on the following topics in detail:
• Important Articles and Amendments of the Indian Constitution.
• All the Schedules and Parts of the Indian Constitution.
• Key positions and their holders such as Chief Justice of India, UPSC Commissioner, Chief Election Commissioner, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Attorney General etc.
• Top Cabinet Ministers, Chief Ministers of Indian states especially ones with recent elections and other important post holders.
• Fundamental Rights and Duties, Directive Principles etc.
• Country of origin for parts that have inspired components in the Indian Constitution.
• Chronology and years of Indian Presidents, PMs, VPs and other such milestones or firsts.
• Rights of different bodies such as Parliament, Rajya Sabha, state assemblies etc.
• Landmark cases and the topics dealt by them.
• Important dates.

In order to best prepare for these topics, students must start off with any basic book. Most coaching institutes provide study material where the information is laid out in concise manner. In case the student has not opted for formal coaching, he / she may simply start off with the relevant sections from the NCERT Civics book. The class X book is most relevant as a starting point. Once this basic level is fulfilled, the student may proceed to buy any renowned book on GK from the market. The best known sources are – Pearson’s, Arihant, Universal, Manorama (my personal favourite) and Lucent. These books contain theory in detail on all major relevant portions, plus also question-answer rounds. Crucially, students must always start off by taking a look at the last 3 years’ question papers from the exams he/she wishes to attempt.