NCERT Solutions For Class 12 Political Science Part 2 Chapter 2 - Era Of One Party Dominance

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80. Choose the correct option to fill in the blanks.
(i) 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)

Ans. State Assemblies

(ii) 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)

Ans. Communist Party of India

(iii) One of the guiding principles of the ideology of the Swatantra Party was _____________ (Working class interests/ protection of Princely States/economy free from State control / Autonomy of States within the Union).

Ans. Economy free from state control

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

List-A	List-B
(a) S.A. Dange	(i) Bhartiya Jana Sangh
(b) Shyama Prasad Mukherjee	(ii) Swatantra Party
(c) Minoo Masani	(iii) Praja Socialist Party
(d) Asoka Mehta	(iv) Communist Party of India

Ans. (a)-(iv), (b)-(i), (c)-(ii), (d)-(iii)

82. Four statements regarding one-party dominance are given below. Mark each of them as true or false.

(i) One-party dominance is rooted in the absence of strong alternative political parties.

Ans. True

(ii) One-party dominance occurs because of weak public opinion.

Ans. True

(iii) One-party dominance is linked to the nation’s colonial past.

Ans. True

(iv) One-party dominance reflects the absence of democratic ideals in a country.

Ans. False

83. 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.

Ans.

84. 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 a 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

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

Ans. The author thinks of Congress as a party which has a multi-dimensional ideology which is important for ruling a diverse nation like India. The author did not want the party to have a single stringent ideology.

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

Ans. Congress was the most important party during the Indian independence movement and launched numerous mass movements for attainment of the freedom. Due to its work during the independence movement, it was rewarded in the elections after the independence and for a long time was able to rule at the centre.

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

Ans. Gandhiji was positive about the Congress's future as he was impressed by the ideology of the Congress Party under the leadership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.