TEXTBOOK QUESTIONS SOLVED
1. Choose the correct option to fill in the
blanks.
(a) The First General Elections in 1952 involved simultaneous elections to
the Lok Sabha and………….
(The President of India/State Assemblies/Rajya Sabha/The Prime Minister)
(b) The party that won the second largest number of Lok Sabha seats in the first
elections was the …………
(Praja Socialist Party/Bharatiya Jana Sangh/Communist Party of India/Bharatiya Janata Party)
(c) One of the guiding principles of the ideology of the Swatantra Party was………
(Working class interest/protection of Princely States/Economy free from State control/Autonomy of States within the Union)
Answer: (a) State Assemblies
(b) Communist Party of India
(c) Economy free from state control.
2. Match the following
Answer: (a)—(iv), (b)-(i), (c)-(w), (d)-(iii)
3. Four statements regarding one-party dominance are given below. Mark each of them as true or false:
(a) One-party dominance is rooted in the absence of strong alternative political parties
(b) One-party dominance occurs because of weak public opinion.
(c) One-party dominance is linked to the nation’s colonial past.
(d) One-party dominance reflects the absence of democratic ideals in a country.
Answer: (a) True, (b) False, (c) True, (d) False
4. If Bharatiya Jana Sangh of the Communist Party of India had formed the government after the first election, in which respects would the policies of the government have been different? Specify three differences each for both the parties.
Answer: 1. Bharatiya Jana Sangh:
The policies of Bharatiya Jana Sangh were based on the principles as follows:
(a) It replaced secular concept by the ideology of one country, one culture and one nation.
(b) No cultural and educational rights as this party opposed the granting of concessions to religious and cultural minorities.
(c) It focused on the reunity of India and Pakistan under the concept of Akhand Bharat.
2. Communist Party of India:
Communist Party of India would have been different on the principles as follows:
(а) It worked for proportional representation in the govern-ment.
(б) This party followed communist ideology in various policies.
(c) It emphasised on a control over electronic mass media by an autonomous body or corporation.
5. In what sense was the Congress an ideological coalition? Mention the various ideological currents present within the Congress.
Answer: The Congress Party became a social and ideological coalition for it merged different social groups alongwith their identity holding different beliefs:
1. It accommodated the revolutionary, conservative, pacifist, radical, extremist and moderates and the rights and the left with all other shades of the centre.
2. Congress became a platform for numerous groups, interests and even political parties to take part in the national movement.
Ideological currents present within the Congress:
(a) In pre-independence days, many organisations and parties with their own constitutions and organisational structures were allowed to exist within the Congress.
(b) Some of these like “Congress Socialist Party” later seperated from the Congress and became on opposition party.
6. Did the prevalence of a ‘one-party dominant system’ affect adversely the democratic nature of Indian politics?
Answer: No, the prevalence of one party dominance system did not affect adversely the democratic nature of Indian politics because:
1. The key role of Congress in the freedom struggle gave it a head start over others.
2. The Congress accommodated diversified interests, religion, beliefs and aspirations to strengthen democracy.
3. Despite being taken place of free and fair elections, Congress won elections in the same manner again and again.
4. Congress party consisted of various factions inside itself, based on ideological considerations who never taught together or went out of Congress.
5. Hence, on the basis of above mentioned criterion, it can be concluded that Congress strengthened ideals of democracy and held unity and integrity of the country.
7. Bring out three differences each between Socialist Parties and the Communist Party and between Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party.
Answer: 1. Differences between Socialist Parties and Communist Party:
Very Short Answer Type Questions [1 Mark]
1. Which political party laid emphasis on the idea of one party, one culture and one nation?
Answer: Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
2. Which political party of India had leaders like A.K. Gopalan, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, and S.A. Dange?
Answer: Communist Party of India.
3. Who was the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh?
Answer: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951.
4. In which year was the Election Commission of India set up and who was the first chief Election Commissioner of India?
Answer: 25 January 1950, Sukumar Sen.
5. Name the founder president of the Congress Socialist Party. What name was given to this party after 1948?
Answer: The founder president of the Congress Socialist Party was Acharya Narendra Dev and after 1955 it came to be known as Socialist Party.
6. Differentiate between one party dominance and one party system.
Answer: One party dominance refer to representation on behalf of popular consensus alongwith free and fair elections i.e. Congress in India whereas one party system refers representation based on malpractice, fraud etc. to ensure winning of a particular party.
7. When and why was the electronic voting machine used in India for the first time?
Answer: The electronic voting machine was used in India in 1990 for first time for more accuracy and fair dealing while counting as well as it helps to check Booth capturing and other malpractices.
8. How did socialist party origin?
Answer: The founder president of the Congress socialist party was Acharya Narendra Dev and after 1955 it came to be known as Socialist Party.
9. Define faction.
Answer: Faction are the groups formed inside the party i.e. coalitions made in Congress created various factions which were based on either ideological considerations or personal ambitions.
10. When and by whom PRI was founded?
Answer: The ‘Institutional Revolutionary Party’ (PRI) was founded in 1929 by Plutareo Elias Calles in Mexico which represented the legacy of Mexican Revolution.
Very Short Answer Type Questions [2 Marks]
1. How did the dominance of Congress Party in the first three general elections help in establishing a democratic set-up in India?
Answer: The first general election was the first big test of democracy in a poor and illiterate country. Till then democracy had existed only in the prosperous countries. By that time many countries in Europe had not given voting rights to all women. In this context India’s experiment with universal adult franchise appeared very bold and risky. India’s general election of 1952 became a landmark in the history of democracy all over the world. It was no longer possible to argue that domocratic elections could not be held on conditions of poverty or lack of education. It proved that democracy could be practised anywhere in the world. The next two general elections strengthened democratic set-up in India.
2. Highlight any two features of ideology of Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
Answer: 1. Bharatiya Jana Sangh laid emphasis on ideology of one country, one culture and one nation.
2. Bharatiya Jana Sangh called for reunity of India and Pakistan in Akhand Bharat.
3. Explain the major difference of ideology between that of Congress and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
Answer: The major difference of ideology between Congress and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh was that Bharatiya Jana Sangh emphasised on one party country. One culture, one nation i.e. a Hindu nation or Hindutva whereas Congress formed ideological and social coalitions accommodating social diversities.
4. State any two ideologies of the Swatantra Party.
Answer: Swatantra Party was founded by Senior Congress leader C. Rajgopalachari in August 1959:
1. The party believed that prosperity could come only through individual freedom.
2. This party was against land ceilings in agriculture and opposed to cooperative farming.
5. How has the method of voting changed from the first General Election of 1952 to the General Election of 2004?
Answer: 1. In the first General Election a box was placed inside each polling booth for each candidate with the election symbol of the candidate. Each voter was given a blank ballot paper to drop into the box, they wanted to vote for.
2. After first two elections, this method was changed. Now ballot paper carried the names and symbols of candidates and the voter stamped against the name of candidate to vote for.
3. In 2004, Electronic Voting Machine were introduced to press the button according to choice of the voter containing the name of candidate and symbol of political party.
6. When was Communist Party emerged?
Answer: The Communist Party emerged in 1920 in different parts of India. It took the inspiration from Bolshevik revolution in Russia. The important leaders of CPI were A.K. Gopalan, S.A. Dange, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, P.C. Joshi, Ajay Ghosh etc.
7. “India’s experiment with universal adult franchise appeared very bold and risky”. Justify the statement.
Answer: Because:
1. Country’s vast size and electorates made these elections unusual.
2. The year 1952, it was a big test for poor and illiterate country.
3. Till then, democracy had been existed only in the prosperous countries mainly in Europe and North America where everyone was almost literate.
8. Mention the aims and goals of Socialist Party of India. Why the party could not prove itself as an effective alternative to the Congress?
Answer: Aims and goals of socialist party of India:
1. The Socialist Party believed in the ideology of democratic socialism to be distinguished from Congress and Communists both.
2. It criticised Congress for ignoring the workers and peasants.
It became difficult for socialist party to prove itself as an effective alternative to Congress because Congress Party declared its goal to be the socialist pattern of society in 1955.
9. What were the reasons for dominance of one party system in India?
Answer: The dominance of Congress in India was due to following reasons:
1. Congress was identified with the freedom struggle for building national unity and solidarity.
2. Congress was associated with Mahatma Gandhi’s name.
3. It had a broad based manifesto to include the various section of society.
4. Congress bore a popular appeal of charismatic leader like Mahatma Gandhi, J.L. Nehru, Sardar Patel, Indira Gandhi etc.
5. Congress focused on building role of the party.
10. How did India’s first general elections of 1952 become a landmark in the history of democracy all over the world?
Answer: Because:
1. These elections were competitive among various parties.
2. The participation of people was encouraging also.
3. The results were declared in a very fair manner, even to be accepted by the losers in a fair manner.
4. This experiment of India, proved the critics wrong also.
2. Differences between Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party:
