Read the passage and answer the questions below:
…Indira Gandhi changed the Congress into highly centralised and undemocratic party organisation, from the earlier federal, democratic and ideological formation that Nehru had led…..But this… could not have happened had not Indira Gandhi changed the entire nature of politics. This new, populist politics turned political ideology ……. into a mere electoral discourse, use of various slogans not meant to be translated into government policies…… During its great electoral victories in early 1970s, amidst the celebration, the Congress party as a political organisation died….. — Sudipta Kaviraj
(a) What according to the author is the difference between the strategies of Nehru and Indira Gandhi?
(b) Why does the author say that the Congress party ‘died’ in the seventies?
(c) In what way, did the change in the Congress party affect other political parties also?
…Indira Gandhi changed the Congress into highly centralised and undemocratic party organisation, from the earlier federal, democratic and ideological formation that Nehru had led…..But this… could not have happened had not Indira Gandhi changed the entire nature of politics. This new, populist politics turned political ideology ……. into a mere electoral discourse, use of various slogans not meant to be translated into government policies…… During its great electoral victories in early 1970s, amidst the celebration, the Congress party as a political organisation died….. — Sudipta Kaviraj
(a) What according to the author is the difference between the strategies of Nehru and Indira Gandhi?
(b) Why does the author say that the Congress party ‘died’ in the seventies?
(c) In what way, did the change in the Congress party affect other political parties also?
a. The main difference that author identifies between the strategies of Pt. Nehru and Mrs. Gandhi was that Nehru was more democratic and federal in his approach. His decision making involved agreements and discussions with other senior Congress leaders. Mrs. Gandhi, on the other hand, made Congress highly centralised, sidelined senior party leaders and asserted her independent position. She made Congress highly undemocratic in its organisational structure.
b. Congress party died in the ‘70s implies
a. that even though Mrs. Gandhi was able to reinvent party, it was not the same party that once used be an umbrella organisation or a vast coalition
b. that the party now centred around one supreme leader who guided its ideologies
c. that the party now represented different ideologies and programmes
d. that the party was more populist in its approach
e. that it did not represent all sections of the Indian society as it used to do earlier, accommodating rightist, leftist and centrist within its fold.
f. that the party was more dependent upon some social groups — the poor, women, Dalits, Adivasis and the minorities — for its electoral victory
g. That unlike earlier, when the Party used to handle internal differences and factions in a more pragmatic manner, it has now already split. The senior Congress leaders, the syndicate no longer remained within the Congress.
c. The change in the Congress Party affected other parties in the following manner:
a. The growing internal factionalism within the Congress, the formal split strengthened the opposition parties.
b. There was a rise of other political parties that sought to form an alliance and challenge congress.
c. Competition among political parties became more personality based. We may give an example of how during 1971 elections, the other non-Congress parties formed grand alliance and sought to reach out to people with their call for Indira Hatao.
a. The main difference that author identifies between the strategies of Pt. Nehru and Mrs. Gandhi was that Nehru was more democratic and federal in his approach. His decision making involved agreements and discussions with other senior Congress leaders. Mrs. Gandhi, on the other hand, made Congress highly centralised, sidelined senior party leaders and asserted her independent position. She made Congress highly undemocratic in its organisational structure.
b. Congress party died in the ‘70s implies
a. that even though Mrs. Gandhi was able to reinvent party, it was not the same party that once used be an umbrella organisation or a vast coalition
b. that the party now centred around one supreme leader who guided its ideologies
c. that the party now represented different ideologies and programmes
d. that the party was more populist in its approach
e. that it did not represent all sections of the Indian society as it used to do earlier, accommodating rightist, leftist and centrist within its fold.
f. that the party was more dependent upon some social groups — the poor, women, Dalits, Adivasis and the minorities — for its electoral victory
g. That unlike earlier, when the Party used to handle internal differences and factions in a more pragmatic manner, it has now already split. The senior Congress leaders, the syndicate no longer remained within the Congress.
c. The change in the Congress Party affected other parties in the following manner:
a. The growing internal factionalism within the Congress, the formal split strengthened the opposition parties.
b. There was a rise of other political parties that sought to form an alliance and challenge congress.
c. Competition among political parties became more personality based. We may give an example of how during 1971 elections, the other non-Congress parties formed grand alliance and sought to reach out to people with their call for Indira Hatao.
