NCERT Solutions For Class 12 Political Science Part 2 Chapter 8 - Recent Developments In Indian Politics

86. Unscramble a bunch of disarranged press clipping file of Unni-Munni… and arrange the file chronologically.

  • (a) Mandal Recommendations and Anti Reservation Stir
  • (b) Formation of the Janata Dal
  • (c) The demolition of Babri Masjid
  • (d) Assassination of Indira Gandhi
  • (e) The formation of NDA government
  • (f) Godhra incident and its fallout
  • (g) Formation of the UPA government
  • Ans. (b), (d), (a), (c), (e), (f), (g)

87. Match the following.

(a) Politics of Consensus (i) Shah Bano case
(b) Caste based parties (ii) Rise of OBCs
(c) Personal Law and Gender Justice (iii) Coalition government
(d) Growing Regional parties (iv) Agreement on Economic Policies
(d) Secessionist demands on account of tribal identity (iv) Tamil Nadu.

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

88. State the main issues in Indian politics in the period after 1989. What different configurations of political parties these differences lead to?

Ans. Some of the major issues after 1989 are:

  1. The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi led to a disturbance in the country.
  2. The reservations granted by the Mandal Commission to the OBCs became a topic of high debate.
  3. The economic reforms was carried out in India during 1991 that came to be known as the LPG(Liberalisation Privatisation and Globalisation).
  4. The demolition of Babri Masjid led to the increase in the tensions.

89. “In the new era of coalition politics, political parties are not aligning or realigning on the basis of ideology.” What arguments would you put forward to support or oppose this statement?

Ans. The political parties have started making practical decisions rather than sticking to the strong ideological basis.

  1. The focus of the politics have changes from ideological parameters to the power sharing agreement.
  2. This can be seen during the ruling of the National Democratic Alliance. In this government BJP was the dominant power. Many parties did not agreed with the Hindutva ideology of BJP instead they came together to form the government.

90. Trace the emergence of BJP as a significant force in post-Emergency politics.

Ans. The emergence of BJP as a significant force in post-Emergency politics has been described below:

    1. Failure of Janata Party and its break-up, one section of supporter from Jana Sangh formed the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1980.
    2. The BJP adopted a broader political platform than that of the Jana Sangh to gain support from more sections of people. It embraced 'Gandhian Socialism' as its ideology. However, it could not get much success in the elections held in 1980 and 1984.
    3. After 1986, the party began to emphasise the Hindu nationalist elements in its ideology. The party pursued the politics of ‘Hindutva’ and adopted the strategy of mobilising the Hindus. Example, The BJP criticised the action of the government as an unnecessary concession and ‘appeasement’ policy of the minority community, in 1985 Shah Bano case and the orders of the Supreme Court.
    4. At the same time, Ayodhya issue was made by the BJP as its major electoral and political plank. The BJP, in order to generate public support, took out the Rathyatra from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya in UP.
    5. As a result of above events, the BJP was able to consolidate its position in the often elections of 1989, 1991, 1996, 1999. Complete majority in Lok Sabha election of 2014

91. In spite of the decline of Congress dominance, the Congress party continues to influence politics in the country. Do you agree? Give reasons.

Ans. The Congress Party is the oldest party in India and has been successful in influencing the politics in the country.

  1. They have successfully ruled for 10 years from 2004 to 2014 under the United Progressive Alliance. Since then they have been in opposition.
  2. The Congress has a strong base in the country and has been still a major political force in several states.
  3. The ideologies of the Congress has still have support for the wide sections of the society.

92. Many people think that a two-party system is required for successful democracy. Drawing from India’s experience of last 30 years, write an essay on what advantages the present party system in India has.

Ans. During the first 30 years after the independence there was dominance of only Congress party in the politics in India. They ruled from 1947 to 1977 and had no political opposition.

  1. It was in 1977 that for the first time a non-Congress government was formed at the centre. However the Janata government was not able to complete its full tenure.
  2. It was during 1999-2004 that a first non- Congress government was successful in completing its first tenure.
  3. Since then the Congress and the BJP has been the two major parties effecting the politics of the country.
  4. The two party system is effective as it provides a strong opposition to the ruling party which ensures that the ruling party did not use its power in arbitrary manner.
93. Read the passage and answer the questions below:

Party politics in India has confronted numerous challenges. Not only has the Congress system destroyed itself, but the fragmentation of the Congress coalition has triggered a new emphasis on self-representation which raises questions about the party system and its capacity to accommodate diverse interests, …. . An important test facing the polity is to evolve a party system or political parties that can effectively articulate and aggregate a variety of interests. —Zoya Hasan

(i) Write a short note on what the author calls challenges of the party system in the light of what you have read in this chapter.

Ans. The most important challenge faced by a political party is to accommodate the interests of majority of the sections of the society in its policy. The dominance of the Congress system came to an end as they were not able to address the issues of several sections of the society effectively.

(ii) Given an example from this chapter of the lack of accommodation and aggregation mentioned in this passage.

Ans. There are lot of examples that can be seen as lack of accommodation and aggregation. Some of the popular cases are Shah Bano case and Babri Masjid issue.

(iii) Why is it necessary for parties to accommodate and aggregate variety of interests?

Ans. In a democracy the needs of the people are varying. Different groups have different vested interest. The political party has to ensure balance among the different groups for ensuring its success.  

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