NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Political Science Ch 4 Parties and the Party System in India
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 interests/ protection of Princely States / economy free from State control / Autonomy of States within the Union)
Answer
(a) Legislative Assemblies
(b) Communist Party of India
(c) economy free from state control.
2. Match the following leaders listed in List A with the parties in List B.
| List A | List B |
|---|---|
| (a) S. A. Dange | i. Bharatiya Jana Sangh |
| (b) Shyama Prasad Mukherjee | ii. Swatantra Party |
| (c) Minoo Masani | iii. Praja Socialist Party |
| (d) Asoka Mehta | iv. Communist Party of India |
Answer
| List A | List B |
|---|---|
| (a) S. A. Dange | iv. Communist Party of India |
| (b) Shyama Prasad Mukherjee | i. Bharatiya Jana Sangh |
| (c) Minoo Masani | ii. Swatantra Party |
| (d) Asoka Mehta | iii. Praja Socialist Party |
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), (c), (d) are correct (b) is incorrect.
4. 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.
Answer
Communist Party of India:
• Just like in Russia, it would have tried to establish dictatorial rule.
• It emphasised on a control over electronic mass media by an autonomous body or corporation.
Bharatiya Jana Sangh:
• It replaced secular concept by the ideology of one country, one culture and one nation.
• It would have tried to make country modern, progressive and strong on the basis of Indian culture and traditions.
• Hindi would be made official language of the country.
• No cultural and educational rights as this party opposed the granting of concessions to religious and cultural minorities.
5. In what sense was the Congress an ideological coalition? Mention the various ideological currents present within the Congress.
Answer
Indian National Congress began like a pressure group and represented upper section of society. However, in the twentieth century, different ideological elements such as the revolutionary, conservative, pacifist, radical, extremist and leftists aligned with Congress. Also, it accommodated diverse sections of society such as industrialists, workers, landlords, peasants. So, Congress represented diversity of India.
Ideological currents present within the Congress:
• In pre-independence days, many organisations and parties with their own constitutions and organisational structures were allowed to exist within the Congress on the basis of common understanding.
• Some of these like “Congress Socialist Party “later separated 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:
• The key role of Congress in the freedom struggle gave it a head start over others.
• The Congress accommodated diversified interests, religion, beliefs and aspirations to strengthen democracy.
• Despite being taken place of free and fair elections, Congress won elections in the same manner again and again.
• Congress party consisted of various factions inside itself, based on ideological considerations who never taught together or went out of Congress.
• 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
| Socialist Parties | Communist Parties |
|---|---|
| These parties believes in democratic system. | These parties has faith in dictatorship of the proletariat or working class. |
| These does not favour complete abolition of capitalism and feudalism. | These favours complete abolition of capitalism and feudalism. |
| These parties have faith in the use of constitutional means for achieving the goal of social justice. | These parties have faith in the peaceful as well as violent means for the achievement of its aims. |
| Bharatiya Jana Sangh | Swatantra Party |
|---|---|
| It emphasised on the ideology of one country, one culture and one nation. | It emphasised on the free economy and less involvement of government in controlling the economy. |
| It called for a reunity of India and Pakistan in Akhand Bharat. | It was critical to policy of nonalignment and favoured to have closer relations with the USA. |
| It was a consistant advocate of India to develop nuclear weapons. | This party criticised centralised planning nationalisation and one public sector. |
8. What would you consider as the main differences between Mexico and India under one party domination?
Answer
• In India, the congress party dominated on behalf of popular consensus but Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) ruled on behalf of the people.
• In India, free and fair elections took place, where the losing the elections was also fair but in Mexico, elections were based on Malpractices and were rigid, dominated by PRI.
• In India, the opposition contested elections to win and form a government. But in Mexico other parties existed only to give ruling party greater legitimacy.
9. 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.
Answer
10. 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?
Answer
(a) The author think that Congress should not have been a cohesive and disciplined party as it should focus on becoming a platform where downtrodden part of society could raise their voice and it should help in upliftment of these.
(b) In the initial years, the Congress played a coordinating role. It accommodated liberals, radical nationalists, Gandhi and socialists so as to give representation to all sections of the society.
(c) Gandhiji believed in hand- in-hand characteristic of national movement led by Congress which attracted various sections groups and society to form a social and ideological coalition in Congress.
