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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 1999, for the first time, the Shiv Sena won the largest number of Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. How many of the state's 48 seats did the party win?
a. 13.
b. 15.
c. 10.

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong!
The correct answer is B
The BJP won 13 seats, the Congress 10, the Nationalist Congress Party 6. The Sena equaled its 1996 record when it won as many seats. Just 18 months earlier, in the 1998 election, the party had lost nine of those 15 seats, winning just 6. The Sena hascertainly come a long way since 1989 when it opened its account in the Lok Sabha winning the Mumbai North Central seat (Vidyadhar Gokhale, who edited the widely circulated Marathi newspaper, Loksatta, which is owned by the Express group). It got 4 seats in 1991 and has consistently improved on its performance, moving beyond its traditional Mumbai stronghold into coastal Maharashtra and other areas.

Correct!
The BJP won 13 seats, the Congress 10, the Nationalist Congress Party 6. The Sena equaled its 1996 record when it won as many seats. Just 18 months earlier, in the 1998 election, the party had lost nine of those 15 seats, winning just 6. The Sena has certainly come a long way since 1989 when it opened its account in the Lok Sabha winning the Mumbai North Central seat (Vidyadhar Gokhale, who edited the widely circulated Marathi newspaper, Loksatta, which is owned by the Express group). It got 4 seats in 1991 and has consistently improved on its performance, moving beyond its traditional Mumbai stronghold into coastal Maharashtra and other areas.

2. Under which party's symbol did Janata Party candidates contest the 1977 election in all of India barring Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry?
a. The Jan Sangh.
b. The Socialist Party.
c. The Bharatiya Lok Dal.

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong!
The correct answer is C.
Four parties -- the Indian National Congress (Organisation) or Congress-O, the Jan Sangh, the Bharatiya Lok Dal and the Socialist Party -- merged to form the Janata Party. However, the Election Commission's recognition for the Janata Party came only after the election. This forced the merging parties to decide under which party's symbol they would contest the Lok Sabha election. The Lok Dal's charka-haldar (farmer with plough in a wheel) was chosen. Which is why Election Commission annals still record every Janata Party candidate (be it Morarji Desai of the Congress-O or Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the Jan Sangh or Charan Singh of the Lok Dal or George Fernandes of the Socialist Party) as a BLD candidate. Only in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry where the Lok Dal was virtually non-existent did Janata Party nominees contest on the Congress-O's woman and charkha symbol.
Correct!
Four parties -- the Indian National Congress (Organisation) or Congress-O, the Jan Sangh, the Bharatiya Lok Dal and the Socialist Party -- merged to form the Janata Party. However, the Election Commission's recognition for the Janata Party came only after the election. This forced the merging parties to decide under which party's symbol they would contest the Lok Sabha election. The Lok Dal's charka-haldar (farmer with plough in a wheel) was chosen. Which is why Election Commission annals still record every Janata Party candidate (be it Morarji Desai of the Congress-O or Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the Jan Sangh or Charan Singh of the Lok Dal or George Fernandes of the Socialist Party) as a BLD candidate. Only in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry where the Lok Dal was virtually non-existent did Janata Party nominees contest on the Congress-O's woman and charkha symbol.

3. As far as we can tell, S A Dange and Roza Deshpande are the only father and daughter to win election to the Lok Sabha from the same seat. Which constituency?
a. Bhandara.
b. Bombay South Central .
c. Ichaljkaranji.

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is B.
Shripad Amrut Dange was one of India's best-known Communists, and leader of the Communist Party of India after the CPI split into the CPI and CPI-M. Dange won the Bombay South Central seat in the heart of the city's labour area twice, in 1957 and 1967. In 1974, his daughter Roza won a by-election from the constituency, defeating the Jan Sangh candidate. That was the last time the Communists won a Lok Sabha seat in Mumbai. Its best showing since 1974 was ten years later when Roza Deshpande came in second to trade unionist Datta Samant. The Shiv Sena's Mohan Rawle has held the constituency since 1991.
Correct!
Shripad Amrut Dange was one of India's best-known Communists, and leader of the Communist Party of India after the CPI split into the CPI and CPI-M. Dange won the Bombay South Central seat in the heart of the city's labour area twice, in 1957 and 1967. In 1974, his daughter Roza won a by-election from the constituency, defeating the Jan Sangh candidate. That was the last time the Communists won a Lok Sabha seat in Mumbai. Its best showing since 1974 was ten years later when Roza Deshpande came in second to trade unionist Datta Samant. The Shiv Sena's Mohan Rawle has held the constituency since 1991.

4. Which constituency did Lal Bahadur Shastri represent when he was chosen as Jawaharlal Nehru's successor?
a. Allahabad.
b. Almora.
c. Agra.

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is A.
Shastri won the 1957 and 1962 elections from his native Allahabad with ease. In fact, if there is one constituency in India which has consistently been represented by high profile leaders, it must be Allahabad. In 1952, it was Sri Prakasa, who went on to become governor of Maharashtra. In 1967, it was Shastri's son Hari Krishna Shastri, who was given the seat, in deference to his late father who passed away suddenly in Tashkent. Hemwati Nandan Bahguna won it in 1971, but resigned the seat to become chief minister of UP. The Bharatiya Kranti Dal's Jnaneshwar Misra won the by-election, sending the seat out of Congress orbit for the first time. Misra retained the seat in 1977, and won it again 12 years later. V P Singh won it in 1980, but resigned to became UP chief minister. The second time an MP from Allahabad has quit to take over as CM of India's most populous state. Amitabh Bachchan, who would soon become V P Singh's favourite target after Rajiv Gandhi, won it in 1984. Dr Murli Manohar Joshi (BJP) has represented Allahabad since 1996. The only unfamiliar faces have been Saroj Dubey (Janata Dal), who won it in 1991 and Krishna Tiwari, who won the 1980 by-election to fill V P Singh's place.
Correct!
Shastri won the 1957 and 1962 elections from his native Allahabad with ease. In fact, if there is one constituency in India which has consistently been represented by high profile leaders, it must be Allahabad. In 1952, it was Sri Prakasa, who went on to become governor of Maharashtra. In 1967, it was Shastri's son Hari Krishna Shastri, who was given the seat, in deference to his late father who passed away suddenly in Tashkent. Hemwati Nandan Bahguna won it in 1971, but resigned the seat to become chief minister of UP. The Bharatiya Kranti Dal's Jnaneshwar Misra won the by-election, sending the seat out of Congress orbit for the first time. Misra retained the seat in 1977, and won it again 12 years later. V P Singh won it in 1980, but resigned to became UP chief minister. The second time an MP from Allahabad has quit to take over as CM of India's most populous state. Amitabh Bachchan, who would soon become V P Singh's favourite target after Rajiv Gandhi, won it in 1984. Dr Murli Manohar Joshi (BJP) has represented Allahabad since 1996. The only unfamiliar faces have been Saroj Dubey (Janata Dal), who won it in 1991 and Krishna Tiwari, who won the 1980 by-election to fill V P Singh's place.

5. Which Bihari celebrity's father has represented Bhagalpur five times?
a. Shekhar Suman.
b. Kirti Azad.
c. Manoj Bajpai.

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is B.
Bhagwat Jha Azad, minister in Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi's Cabinets, won Bhagalpur in 1962, 1967, 1971, 1980 and 1984. The only times he lost were in the Janata waves of 1977 and 1989. Since that year, the seat has thrice been represented by Chunchun Prasad Yadav, first for the Janata Dal (1989, 1991) and then for the Rashtriya Janata Dal (1996). Prabash Chandra Tiwary won it for the BJP in 1998; the CPI's Subodh Roy won it the last time around.
Correct!
Bhagwat Jha Azad, minister in Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi's Cabinets, won Bhagalpur in 1962, 1967, 1971, 1980 and 1984. The only times he lost were in the Janata waves of 1977 and 1989. Since that year, the seat has thrice been represented by Chunchun Prasad Yadav, first for the Janata Dal (1989, 1991) and then for the Rashtriya Janata Dal (1996). Prabash Chandra Tiwary won it for the BJP in 1998; the CPI's Subodh Roy won it the last time around.

Election Quiz is best viewed in Internet Explorer and Netscape above version 6.0.

Quiz 1
Quiz 2
Quiz 3
Quiz 4
Quiz 5
Quiz 6
Quiz 7

Compiled by G K Gokhale
Image: Uttam Ghosh



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