Class 12 Political Science

Era of One Party Dominance

1. When was the Indian Constitution adopted? 

Ans:- The Indian constitution was adopted on 26 November, 1949.

2. When was the Indian Constitution enforced? 

Ans:- The Indian constitution was enforced on 26 January, 1950.

3. Name the full form of E.V.M.

Ans:- Electronic Voting Machine.

4. Name the full form of VVPAT.

Ans:- Voters Verified Paper Audit Trail

5. In which year was the first general election held ? 

Ans: In 1951-52, the first general election was held. 

6. Who was the chairman of Drafting Committee of Constituent Assembly ? 

Ans:- Dr. Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar. 

7. When was the Bharatiya Jana Sangh fomed and by whom?

Ans:- Bharatiya Jana Sangh was established in 1951 by Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.

8. When and who was Indian National Congress established?

Ans:- In 1885, Indian National Congress was established by Allan Octavian Hume

9. When did the Election Commission come into existence? Who was the first chief Election commissioner?

Ans:- The Election Commission came into existence in January 1950. Sukumar Sen was the first chief Election commissioner of India.

10. List the basic requirements to hold free and fair election in a country like India.

Ans:- Holding election in a country like India requires:

(i) Delimitation or drawing the boundary of the electoral constituencies.

(ii) Preparation og electoral rolls or the list of all the citizens eligible to vote.

11. What do you mean by charismatic leader oriented party?

Ans:- Charismatic leader oriented party is the party in which leader holds a very strong position and is the nucleus of the party. 

It is the leader’s personality and his charisma which holds the party together and leads to a great height, for example congress party under the leadership of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.

12. List two states where congree was not in power at some point during 1952-67 election.

Ans:- In the 1952 election congree party scored a big victory, but it was not in power in the states like- Travencore- cochin, i.e Kerala, Madras and Orissa.

13. When was the Institutional Revolutionary Party founded and by whom?

Ans:- The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) wasa founded in 1929 by Plutarco Elias Calles.

PRI is the National Revolutionary party of Mexico which exercised power in Mexico for almost six decades. This party represented the legacy of the Mexico Revolution.

 

14. Define the term faction.

Ans:- “Faction” are the groups inside the party. The coalition nature of the congress party encouraged various factions. Some factions were based on ideological considerations whereas some factions were based on personal ambitions and rivalries.

 

15. In what way India’s first general election of 1952 became a landmark in the history of democracy all over the world?

Ans:- The first general election of India became a landmark because of various of various factors like:

(i) Elections were competitive.

(ii) The level of participation was encouraging.

(iii) The result were declared in a very fair manner even accepted by the losers.

(iv) The Indian experiment proved the critics wrong. Thus, it was no longer possible to agree that democratic elections could not be held in conditions of poverty.

16. Examine the congress dominance in the first three General Election.

Ans:- In the first three General Elections the congress party maintained its dominance. In the first election Indian National Congress was expected to win and when the final results were declared the extent of the victory of the congress did surprise many. The party won 364 of the 489 seats in the first Lok Sabha finished way ahead of any other challenger.

(i) The Communist party of India that came next in terms of seats won only 16 seats.

(ii) In the state elections also the congress scored big victories. It won a majority of seats in all the states except Travancore cochin (Kerala) Madrass and Orissa.

  (iii) So the party ruled all over the country at the national and the state level and Jawaharlal became the Prime Minister.

(iv) In the Second and third General Election held in 1957 and 1962 respectively, the congress party maintained the same position in the Lok Sabha by winning three-fourth of seats.

(v) None of the opposition parties could win ever one-tenth of the number of seats captured by the congress.

17. What were the various reasons for the dominance of the congress?

Ans:- The reasons for the dominance of the congress till 1977 were:

(i) Its identification with the freedom struggle for building national unity and solidarity.

(ii) Popular appeal of charismatic leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Indira Gandhi etc. 

(iii) Association with Gandhi’s name.

(iv) A very broad based manifesto which has something in its for every section of society.

(v) Countrywide spread of the party organization even in the remotest areas.

(vi) Weak and fragmented opposition because of internal differences within the socialist fold; reservations of the CPI; presence of dynamic leaders in congress lack of clarity of thought and approach among them and also their appeal being limited and confined to certain pockets.

Dr. Ratanlal Brahma, M.A., B.Ed., M.Phil., Ph.D.
Post Graduate Teacher (Political Science)
H.N.Seminary Model HS School, Bagribari, Dhubri, Assam
Email : brahmaratan@gmail.com
Whatsapp no. : 7020477396