Q18 of 27 Page 1

Read the passage carefully and answer the following questions:

The first general election was the first big test of democracy in a poor & illiterate country. Till then democracy had existed only in prosperous countries, mainly in Europe andNorth America, where nearly everyone was literate. By that time, many countries in Europe had not given voting rights to all women. In this context, India's experiment with universal adult franchise appeared to be very bold and risky. An Indian editor called it "the biggest gamble in history". Organiser, a magazine wrote that Jawaharlal Nehru "would live to confess the failure of universal adult franchise in India"…but when the general elections were held it was admired equally by the observers outside India also. TheIndian experiment had proved the critics wrong. In fact, become a landmark in the history of democracy all over the world.


1. How the first general elections of 1952 became a major landmark in the history of democracy all over the world?


2. What problems did election commission confront while holding the first general elections in the country?

1. The first general election in India was a major task the economy that to immediately after the independence that too with massive poverty and illiteracy. The election was held twice and finally, it lasted 4 months that is from October 1951 to February 1952. Most parts of the country voted in January 1952. It was 6 months process from campaigning to the counting of the votes. At the time of the election, there were 17 thousand crore eligible voters, who were to elect 3200 MLA's and 489 Lok Sabha members. But only 15% of voters were illiterate. The level of participation was very much deepened and heartened.


2. The first general election in India was the major task the economy that to immediately after the independence that too with massive poverty and illiteracy. For the Election Commission preparing electoral rolls for the huge massive population and should also ensure that all the citizens are eligible to vote was the major task. This task alone took a lot of time when the first draft of the rolls was published, it was published that the names were nearly 40lakh women were recorded in the list.


It was 6 months process from campaigning to the counting of the votes. At the time of the election, there were 17 thousand crore eligible voters, who were to elect 3200 MLA's and 489 Lok Sabha members. But only 15% of voters were illiterate. No election had been conducted on this massive scale in the world before.


More from this chapter

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16

Highlight the crucial issues over which a broad consensus has emerged amongst different political parties in India.

 17

Read the passage and answer the following questions:

The growing focus on environmental issues within the arena of global politics was firmly consolidated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992. This was also called the Earth Summit…What was obvious at the Rio summit was the rich and the developed countries of the first world generally referred to as the ‘Global North' were pursuing a different environmental agenda than the poor and the developing countries of the III world called the ‘Global South…The differences in their approach culminated into the adoption of the principle called "Common but differentiated responsibilities”.


a. Why was the environmental concern of the first world different from that of the III world?


b. In what ways the principle of ‘Common but differentiated responsibilities’ helped in addressing and overcoming the


differences between the ‘Global North’ and ‘Global South’?

 19

Read the passage given below and answer the following questions:

The Emergency and the period around it can be described as a period of constitutional crisis because it had its origin in the constitutional battle over the jurisdiction of the parliament and the Judiciary…The emergency at once brought out both the weaknesses and strengths of Indian democracy. These critical years of emergency taught the most valuable and lasting lessons for the generations to come.


a. On what ground did Indira Gandhi impose National emergency in India?


b. Which two developments further added tensions between Judiciary and executive other than a constitutional battle over the jurisdiction of the Parliament and judiciary?


c. State any two important lessons learnt from the emergency period in India.

 20

On the basis of your interpretation of the cartoon given below, answer the following questions:

a. Do you consider China effective enough to challenge the pre-eminent position of in the world? Evaluate China's role as an alternative centre of power to the US in this direction.


b. Suggest any two effective strategies to deal with US hegemony in the contemporary world order