Class 12 Political Science Previous Year: Short Questions with Answers - The Crisis of Democratic Order

Q.1. State any two effects of imposing national emergency.    [2024]
Ans. Effects of imposing national emergency:
(i) All the powers get concentrated with the Union Government.
(ii) Some Fundamentals Rights get suspended.
(iii) The federal distribution of powers remains practically suspended.

Q.2. (a) Highlight any two lessons learnt from the imposition of Emergency in India in 1975.    [2024]
OR
(b) Highlight any four consequences of the imposition of Emergency in India in 1975.
Ans. 
(a) Lessons learnt from the imposition of emergency :
(i) It is extremely difficult to do away with democracy in India.
(ii) It brought some ambiguities regarding some emergency provisions in the constitution that have been rectified since then.
(iii) Emergency made everyone more aware of the value of civil liberties.
(iv) Need to maintain a balance between the functioning of a democratic government and the continuous political protest by parties and groups.
(v) Institutions like the police and the administration can be turned into political instruments of the ruling party.
OR
(b) Consequences of imposition of emergency in India in 1975:
(i) It brought the agitation to an abrupt stop; strikes were banned; many opposition leaders were put in jail; the political situation became very quiet though tense.
(ii) The government suspended the freedom of press. Newspaper were asked to get prior approval for all material to be published. This was known as press censorship.
(iii) Apprehending social and communal disharmony, the government banned Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Jamait-e-Islami.
(iv) The various Fundamental Rights of the citizens were suspended , including the right to  move the court for restoring Fundamental rights.
(v) Using Preventive Detention Act, the government mad large scale arrests.
(vi) In support of the government, the doors of the courts were closed for the citizens.
(vii) Many writers returned their National Awards such as Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri, in protest against the suspension of democracy.
(viii) The parliament made many amendments  to the constitution.

Q.3. Explain any four reasons for the grand victory of the Janata Party in the 1977 general elections.   [2023]
Ans. 
(i) Janata Party converted the 1977 elections into referendum on the experience of emergency.
(ii) All the opposition parties joined hands against Congress and gave a choice to the people to choose any one out of two.
(iii) Janata Party advocated the cause of democracy and called the period of emergency as the absence of democracy.
(iv) J.P. Narayan became the icon of the opposition .
(v) Janata Party asked voters to choose between democracy and dictatorship.

Q.4. Explain any four effects of the Emergency declared in 1975.    [2023]
Ans. Effects of Emergency:
(i) Thousand of people and leaders were arrested under Preventive Detention Act.
(ii) The Parliament brought in many new changes in the Constitution. For example an amendment declaring that  elections of Prime Minister, President and Vice-President as non-justiciable was made.
(iii) Political Parties of opposition joined hands to form a new party ‘Janta Party’.
(iv) People became more aware about their Fundamental Rights and liberty.
(v) People became aware about the freedom of press.

Q.5. Why is the period around Emergency of 1975 known as the period of constitutional crisis? Highlight any one reason.    [2023]
Ans. Constitutional crisis between Legislature and Judiciary was focussed on the followings:
(i) Can Parliament abridge the Fundamental Rights?
(ii) Can the Parliament curtail the right to property?
(iii) The Parliament amended the constitution saying that it can abridge the Fundamental Rights for giving effect to directive principles but the Supreme Court rejected it.
(iv) In June 1975, election of Indira Gandhi as MP was declared null and void by the Allahabad High Court but after her appeal in the Supreme Court, she could remain an MP but could not take part in the proceedings of the Lok Sabha.
(v) There was no coordination among Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.

Q.6. Why is the Presidential election in 1969 in India considered 'Historical'? Highlight any two reasons.     [2022]
Ans. 

• The first controversial presidential election was held in the year 1969 when the internal difference among the syndicate members of the Congress party created a tussle of war between then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the syndicate after the sudden demise of then-president Zakir Hussain.
• Indira Gandhi had favoured V.V. Giri as presidential candidate whereas the party members had preferred Neelam Sanjiva Reddy. Amidst this tussle, the fifth presidential election was held where V.V. Giri contested as an independent candidate to defeat Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, the official candidate of the Congress Party. The presidential election was controversial due to various complications which included constitutional silence on the appointment of acting head of the country after a sudden vacancy in the office of the President.

Q.7. Highlight any two excesses made by the Government during the emergency of 1975.   [2022]
Ans. Two excesses made by the Government during emergency of 1975 are:
(a) Under preventive detention laws nearly one lakh eleven thousand people were arrested.
(b) Press censorship took place without any proper legal sanctions.

Q.8. Explain the concept of 'Total Revolution' advocated by Jai Prakash Narain.    [2022]
Ans. Total Revolution is a combination of seven revolutions, namely, political, social, economic, cultural, ideological or intellectual, educational and spiritual; and the main motive is to bring in a change in the existing society that is in tune with the ideals of the Sarvodaya. JP Narain had a very idealistic notion of society and it is in this endeavor, that he shifted from Marxism to Socialism and later towards Sarvodaya.

Q.9. Indira Gandhi’s imposition of National Emergency in 1975 cannot be justified. Give one argument.
Ans. Indira Gandhi’s imposition of National emergency in 1975 cannot be justified.
1. Emergency was imposed not because ‘India was in danger’ but because ‘Indira was i danger’.
2. Law and order situation was mostly normal.
3. There was no threat to the unity and integrity of the nation.

Q.10. In which year fifth general elections to Lok Sabha were held?
Ans. In 1971.

Q.11. In January 1974, students of Gujarat started an agitation against which two major problems?
Ans. The two main problems were:
(i) Wide spread corruption even at higher levels.
(ii) Sharply rising prices of food grains and cooking oil.

Q.12. Find the odd one out in the context of proclamation of Emergency.
(i) The call for ‘Total Revolution’
(ii) The Railway Strike of 1974
(iii)The Naxalite Movement
(iv) The Allahabad High Court Verdict
(v) The findings of the Shah Commission Report
Ans. The Naxalite Movement is the odd one out.

Q.13. State whether the following statements about emergency are correct or incorrect.
(i) It was declared in 1975 by Indira Gandhi.
(ii) It led to the suspension of all fundamental rights.
(iii) It was proclaimed due to the deteriorating economic conditions.
(iv) Many opposition leaders were arrested during the Emergency.
(v) CPI supported the proclamation of the Emergency.
Ans. 
(i) Correct
(ii) Correct
(iii) Incorrect
(iv) Correct
(v) Correct

Q.14. Examine the conditions responsible for the growth of Naxalite movement in India. Suggest ways and means to crush it.
Ans. The Naxalites are the followers of the policies of Marx and Lenin and particularly active in the states of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, etc.There was an uprising among the agricultural peasants of Naxalbari Station (West Bengal) in 1967. It soon spread to the neighbouring regions.The movement gave rise to formation of a new political party CMI(ML) under Charu Majumdar.The majorly affected areas were the backward and tribal areas of these regions. Presently, the movement has taken the shape of violence, exploitation, forced labour, etc.
Although, the Naxalites are not directly involved in Indian politics but are fairly in connection with the system through parties like CPI(ML).

Q.15. Explain the reasons for students’ movement of 1974 in Bihar and the role played by Jayaprakash Narayan in this movement.
Ans. Reasons for students’ movement of 1974 in Bihar :-
(i) Rising prices of food grains
(ii) Food scarcity
(iii) Unemployment and corruption.
Jayaprakash Narayan’s role in the movement :
(i) Jayaprakash Narayan (J. P.) demanded the dismissal of the congress government in Bihar.
(ii) He gave a call for total revolution in the social, economic and political spheres in order to establish what he considered to be true democracy.
(iii) The movement was beginning to influence national politics.
(iv) J. P. wanted to spread the Bihar Movement to other parts of the country.

Q. 16. Explain any two lessons learnt from Emergency imposed in 1975.
Ans. Some important lessons taught by Emergency are:
(i) India cannot be restrained from democracy.
(ii) Internal Emergency in the country can be imposed if there is armed rebellion against the government, and that too can be imposed by written advice of Council of Ministers to the President of India.
(iii) The citizens got aware of their public liberties as well as civil liberties.

Q.17. Examine the legacy of Emergency of 1975 in India.
Ans. The legacy of Emergency is felt as:
(i) From 1977 to 1980, Congress ideology was changed to be as the only socialist and propoor party of the country.
(ii) The opposition got the idea and concept of non-Congressism.
(iii) The constitutional crisis rose where by process of amendment of Constitution was modified.
(iv) The political crisis arose as the party in dominance was forced to impose Emergency against public interest.
(v) The political party system was changed due to tension on the concept that Indian democracy is institution based democracy.

Q.18. Why is Emergency and period around it known as the period of constitutional crisis? Explain.
Ans. 
(i) Conflict between Parliament and the Judiciary on the question ‘can the Parliament abridge the Fundamental Rights?’
(ii) Can the Parliament curtail the right to property? Court said that it cannot amend the Constitution to curtail the rights.
(iii) The Parliament amended the Constitution saying that it can abridge no Fundamental Right for giving effect to Directive Principles but the Supreme Court also rejected it. Due to these conflicts, this period is called the period of constitutional crisis.

Q.19. How far do you agree that the government had misused its emergency powers during 1975-1977? Explain.
OR
What reasons did the government give for declaring a national emergency in 1975 ?
Ans. 
No, the government had not misused its emergency powers during 1975-1977 as the
Emergency was imposed on the grounds of:
(i) Restoration of law and order.
(ii) Restoration of efficient administration.
(iii) Implementation of pro-poor welfare programmes.