Solution of Chapter 2. Era of One-party Dominance (Politics In India Since Indepen Book)

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 interests/ protection ofPrincely States / economy free from State control / Autonomy of States within the Union)

Match the following leaders listed in List A with the parties in List B.

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.

If Bharatiya Jana Sangh or 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.

In what sense was the Congress an ideological coalition? Mention the various ideological currents present within the Congress.

Did the prevalence of a ‘one party dominant system’ affect adversely the democratic nature of Indian politics?

Bring out three differences each between Socialist parties and the Communist party and between Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party.

What would you consider as the main differences between Mexico and India under one party domination?

Take a political map of India (with State outlines) and mark:

(a) two states where Congress was not in power at some point during 1952-67.

(b) two states where the Congress remained in power through this period.

Read the following passage and answer the questions below:

“Patel, the organisational man of the Congress, wanted to purge the Congress of other political groups and sought to make of it a cohesive and disciplined political party. He …. Sought to take the Congress away from its all-embracing character and turn it into a close-knit party of disciplined cadres. Being a ‘realist’ he looked more for discipline than for comprehension. While Gandhi took too romantic a view of “carrying on the movement,” Patel’s idea of transforming the Congress into strictly political party with a single ideology and tight discipline showed an equal lack of understanding of the eclectic role that the Congress, as a government, was to be called upon to perform in the decades to follow.” — Rajni Kothari

(a) Why does the author think that Congress should not have been a cohesive and disciplined party?

(b) Give some examples of the eclectic role of the Congress party in the early years.

(c) Why does the author say that Gandhi’s view about Congress’ future was romantic?