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Which tycoon contested the 1971 poll?
April 02, 2004
Can any Bollywood drama ever compare with the awesome spectacle of an Indian election?
Let us check out how much you know about the Great Election Tamasha.
A quiz we will publish every working day till May 13, the day we know who we have elected to the 14th Lok Sabha.
1. In 1977, the Congress won 41 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh. Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy was the only non-Congress winner. Name his constituency. a. Medak. b. Hyderabad. c. Nandyal.
Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is C. Nandyal. The constituency became internationally famous in 1991 when it gave then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao an entry in The Guinness Book of World Records for the maximum votes -- 89.5%! -- polled. Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy resigned his seat soon after to become President of India. The Congress' P Venkatasubbiah won the 1978 by-election, giving all 42 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh to Indira Gandhi's party.
Correct! The correct answer is C. Nandyal. The constituency became internationally famous in 1991 when it gave then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao an entry in The Guinness Book of World Records for the maximum votes -- 89.5%! -- polled. Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy resigned his seat soon after to become President of India. The Congress' P Venkatasubbiah won the 1978 by-election, giving all 42 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh to Indira Gandhi's party.
2. This maverick won his first Lok Sabha election from Chhapra in Bihar in the Janata Party wave of 1977. His name? a. Sharad Yadav. b. Ram Vilas Paswan. c. Laloo Prasad Yadav.
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Wrong! The correct answer is C. Laloo, then a fiery student leader, won 86% of the vote! Just three years later as a candidate of the Janata Party Secular (the Janata Party had broken up by then) he lost narrowly to the Janata Party candidate. Nine years later, in 1989, in the wake of another wave (this time, courtesy the Janata Dal) he won the Chhapra seat again. In 1999, he lost to Sharad Yadav in the clash of the Yadav titans in Madhepura. He is back in Chhapra this election, where he will joust with the sitting MP, Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudi.
Correct! Laloo, then a fiery student leader, won 86% of the vote! Just three years later as a candidate of the Janata Party Secular (the Janata Party had broken up by then) he lost narrowly to the Janata Party candidate. Nine years later, in 1989, in the wake of another wave (this time, courtesy the Janata Dal) he won the Chhapra seat again. In 1999, he lost to Sharad Yadav in the clash of the Yadav titans in Madhepura. He is back in Chhapra this election, where he will joust with the sitting MP, Aviation Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudi.
3. In 1984, this charismatic politician contested the Khajuraho seat for the first time, but was swept aside by the Rajiv wave. In 1989, this leader won the seat for the first time (winning 61% of the vote) and retained it in 1991, 1996 and 1998. Name this colourful personality. a. Pramod Mahajan. b. Vasundhara Raje Scindia. c. Uma Bharti.
Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is C. Uma Bharti moved to Bhopal for the 1999 election, defeating Suresh Pachouri of the Congress by 168, 867 votes. Khajuraho went the Congress way in 1999; Satyavrat Chatuvedi winning the seat by 81,137 votes. BJP veteran and former chief minister Kailash Joshi is the BJP nominee from Bhopal this election.
Correct! Uma Bharti moved to Bhopal for the 1999 election, defeating Suresh Pachouri of the Congress by 168, 867 votes. Khajuraho went the Congress way in 1999; Satyavrat Chatuvedi winning the seat by 81,137 votes. BJP veteran and former chief minister Kailash Joshi is the BJP nominee from Bhopal this election
4. Gayatri Devi, then the Maharani of Jaipur and now its Rajmata, was the first Indian politician to enter The Guinness Book of World Records for her margin of victory from Jaipur in the 1962 Lok Sabha election. Which party did she represent? a. Congress. b. Swatantra Party. c. Jan Sangh.
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Wrong! The correct answer is B.. Gayatri Devi, once named one of the 10 most beautiful women in the world, was a Swatantra candidate, a party which C Rajagopalchari founded. Congressmen derisively described it as the 'princes and rich men's party' but the Swatantra Party was the earliest champion of liberalisation in India's political landscape. Among its members were the irrepressible Piloo Mody (former TISCO chairman Russi Mody's elder brother), Jaswant Singh (now India's finance minister) and tycoon K K Birla, who won and lost the Jhunjhunu seat in 1967 and 1971 respectively. Gayatri Devi won the Jaipur seat thrice, in 1962, 1967 and 1971. She was jailed in Tihar during the Emergency, a victim of Indira Gandhi's intense dislike for her.
Correct! Gayatri Devi, once named one of the 10 most beautiful women in the world, was a Swatantra candidate, a party which C Rajagopalchari founded. Congressmen derisively described it as the 'princes and rich men's party' but the Swatantra Party was the earliest champion of liberalisation in India's political landscape. Among its members were the irrepressible Piloo Mody (former TISCO chairman Russi Mody's elder brother), Jaswant Singh (now India's finance minister) and tycoon K K Birla, who won and lost the Jhunhunu seat in 1967 and 1971 respectively. Gayatri Devi won the Jaipur seat thrice, in 1962, 1967 and 1971. She was jailed in Tihar during the Emergency, a victim of Indira Gandhi's intense dislike for her.
5. This wellknown businessman and father of a current star of Indian industry contested and lost the then Bombay South seat in 1971. His name? a. Naval Tata. b. J R D Tata. c. C K Birla.
Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is A. Naval Tata, Tata Sons Chairman Rata Tata's father, contested as an Independent and would probably have defeated the Congress' N N Kailas in India's then most affluent constituency had the Samyukta Socialist Party candidate not acted as a spoiler. Tata won 40.4% of the vote against Kailas' 47.1%. The SSP nominee won 10.3%. It is the only occasion that a Tata has contested an election though scions of other business houses like the Birlas have done so, sometimes successfully (see answer to Question 4).
Correct! Naval Tata, Tata Sons Chairman Rata Tata's father, contested as an Independent and would probably have defeated the Congress' N N Kailas in India's then most affluent constituency had the Samyukta Socialist Party candidate not acted as a spoiler. Tata won 40.4% of the vote against Kailas' 47.1%. The SSP nominee won 10.3%. It is the only occasion that a Tata has contested an election though scions of other business houses like the Birlas have done so, sometimes successfully (see answer to Question 4).
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