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. Sasaram in Bihar is associated with the longest serving Cabinet minister in India. His name please. a. Sharad Yadav. b. Ram Vilas Paswan. c. Jagjivan Ram.
Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is C. Many Brahmins bristled at his name, but for millions of so-called Scheduled Castes, long before they had heard of Kanshi Ram or Mayawati, there was Jagjivan Ram, a member of Indian Cabinets from Jawaharlal Nehru's to Morarji Desai's. 'Babuji,' as the so-called scheduled castes referred to him reverently, was an extremely shrewd politician who knew how to use the 'Harijan' card to maximum advantage.
His origins protected him from Indira Gandhi's urge to cut him to size. It also helped that he was a fine administrator, who take decisions quickly. One retired admiral once told us that 'Babuji' was the best defence minister India has ever had, better than even the well respected Arun Singh. Jagjivan Ram held Sasaram from 1957 to his last win in 1984. Not much changed in the constituency, even though it had one of India's most powerful men as its representative in Parliament. Which is probably why Jagjivan Ram's daughter Meera Kumar was defeated twice, in 1989 and 1991.
Correct! Many Brahmins bristled at his name, but for millions of so-called Scheduled Castes, long before they had heard of Kanshi Ram or Mayawati, there was Jagjivan Ram, a member of Indian Cabinets from Jawaharlal Nehru's to Morarji Desai's. 'Babuji,' as the so-called scheduled castes referred to him reverently, was an extremely shrewd politician who knew how to use the 'Harijan' card to maximum advantage.
His origins protected him from Indira Gandhi's urge to cut him to size. It also helped that he was a fine administrator, who take decisions quickly. One retired admiral once told us that 'Babuji' was the best defence minister India has ever had, better than even the well respected Arun Singh. Jagjivan Ram held Sasaram from 1957 to his last win in 1984. Not much changed in the constituency, even though it had one of India's most powerful men as its representative in Parliament. Which is probably why Jagjivan Ram's daughter Meera Kumar was defeated twice, in 1989 and 1991.
2. Which unusual politician represented Surat from 1957 to 1977? a. Morarji Desai. b. Hitendra Desai. c. H M Patel.
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Wrong! The correct answer is A. Morarji Desai was indeed a very unusual leader. He was one of the most honest practitioners of politics, yet was accused by his enemies of overlooking his son's business conduct. He blamed Indira Gandhi -- to whom he lost the Congress leadership battle after the 1967 general election -- of acting like a dictator, but his own manner was often authoritarian. He brought a refreshing style to governance when he became prime minister in June 1977 after 11 years of Indira Gandhi's stifling, self-obsessed, near-tyranical rule, but is still remembered for drinking his urine. He was considered one of the best administrators post-Independence India has had, but was unable to keep his government together. In less than two years, his Janata Party government collapsed from within, hustling him to a retirement he did not want.
Correct! Morarji Desai was indeed a very unusual leader. He was one of the most honest practitioners of politics, yet was accused by his enemies of overlooking his son's business conduct. He blamed Indira Gandhi -- to whom he lost the Congress leadership battle after the 1967 general election -- of acting like a dictator, but his own manner was often authoritarian. He brought a refreshing style to governance when he became prime minister in June 1977 after 11 years of Indira Gandhi's stifling, self-obsessed, near-tyranical rule, but is still remembered for drinking his urine. He was considered one of the best administrators post-Independence India has had, but was unable to keep his government together. In less than two years, his Janata Party government collapsed from within, hustling him to a retirement he did not want.
3. In March 1971, newspaper baron Ram Nath Goenka was elected to the Lok Sabha from Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh on which party's ticket? a. Bharatiya Jan Sangh. b. Congress. c. Swatantra Party.
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Wrong! The correct answer is A. 'RNji,' as his fearful editors and worshipping political constituency knew him, was the second Jan Sangh candidate to be elected from Vidisha, a constituency that, barring 1980 and 1984, has endorsed a candidate from the Jan Sangh or its progeny, the Bharatiya Janata Party, 1967 onwards. In 1991, it elected Atal Bihari Vajpayee. And when he resigned the seat to retain Lucknow, Vidisha elected Shivraj Singh Chauhan in the 1992 by-election. Chauhan retained the seat in 1996, 1998 and 1999, steadily increasing his margin of victory from 30.65% in 1996 to 37% in 1997 to 54.99% in 1999. He is widely considered one of the BJP's rising stars and was chosen to corner Chief Minister Digvijay Singh in his Raghogarh assembly constituency last November.
Correct! RNji,' as his fearful editors and worshipping political constituency knew him, was the second Jan Sangh candidate to be elected from Vidisha, a constituency that, barring 1980 and 1984, has endorsed a candidate from the Jan Sangh or its progeny, the Bharatiya Janata Party, 1967 onwards. In 1991, it elected Atal Bihari Vajpayee. And when he resigned the seat to retain Lucknow, Vidisha elected Shivraj Singh Chauhan in the 1992 by-election. Chauhan retained the seat in 1996, 1998 and 1999, steadily increasing his margin of victory from 30.65% in 1996 to 37% in 1997 to 54.99% in 1999. He is widely considered one of the BJP's rising stars and was chosen to corner Chief Minister Digvijay Singh in his Raghogarh assembly constituency last November.
4. When Jawaharlal Nehru wanted his friend V K Krishna Menon to enter the Lok Sabha in 1957, which constituency would the man soon to become the Man Indians Loved to Hate choose? a. Bombay North. b. Bombay North East. c. Bombay North Central.
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Wrong! The correct answer is A. Bombay North, now renamed Mumbai North is where a fierce battle is likely this election between sitting MP (since 1989) Ram Naik and one Govind Ahuja (that is his real name). Krishna Menon, fresh off the boat from England, won easily against the Praja Socialist Party's Peter Alvares in 1957. Five years later, in 1962, he had moved to the Bombay North East constituency where he easily defeated the towering Gandhian, Acharya J B Kripalani, who contested as an Independent supported by virtually the entire Opposition. That victory came just months before Menon's arrogance contributed to our catastrophic defeat against the Chinese. In 1967, Menon found himself contesting the Bombay North East seat as an Independent against S G Barve of the Congress. He lost. But even though Menon was virtually a political outcast because of his role in the Indo-China war, Barve's margin of victory was slim -- 40.3% to 37.3%
Correct! Bombay North, now renamed Mumbai North is where a fierce battle is likely this election between sitting MP (since 1989) Ram Naik and one Govind Ahuja (that is his real name). Krishna Menon, fresh off the boat from England, won easily against the Praja Socialist Party's Peter Alvares in 1957. Five years later, in 1962, he had moved to the Bombay North East constituency where he easily defeated the towering Gandhian, Acharya J B Kripalani, who contested as an Independent supported by virtually the entire Opposition. That victory came just months before Menon's arrogance contributed to our catastrophic defeat against the Chinese. In 1967, Menon found himself contesting the Bombay North East seat as an Independent against S G Barve of the Congress. He lost. But even though Menon was virtually a political outcast because of his role in the Indo-China war, Barve's margin of victory was slim -- 40.3% to 37.3%
5. P Chidambaram did not make it to the last Lok Sabha. The first time he lost the Sivaganga seat since winning it for the first time in which year? a. 1977. b. 1980. c. 1984.
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Wrong! The correct answer is C. Shockingly, Chidambaram, contesting on a Tamil Maanila Congress ticket, came in third in 1999, behind the Congress' Sudarsana Nachiappan E M (246,078 votes) and H Raja of the BJP (222,267 votes). The former finance minister of India won 127,528 votes, a dramatic fall from the 303,854 he won in 1998. This time, Chidambaram is contesting on the Congress symbol even though he has not returned to the parent party which he left in 1996 because it formed an alliance with J Jayalalithaa.
Correct! Shockingly, Chidambaram, contesting on a Tamil Maanila Congress ticket, came in third in 1999, behind the Congress' Sudarsana Nachiappan E M (246,078 votes) and H Raja of the BJP (222,267 votes). The former finance minister of India won 127,528 votes, a dramatic fall from the 303,854 he won in 1998. This time, Chidambaram is contesting on the Congress symbol even though he has not returned to the parent party which he left in 1996 because it formed an alliance with J Jayalalithaa.
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