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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 1989 which radical new party won six of the eight Lok Sabha seats it contested, sending shock waves in its home state?
a. CPI-ML.
b. Shiromani Akali Dal-Mann.
c. United Bodo National Liberation Front.

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong!
The correct answer is B.
It was the second general election conducted -- the 1985 poll was the first -- as the Khalistan movement cast a shroud of terror over the Punjab countryside. The results astounded the pundits as the newly founded Shiromani Akali Dal-Mann won Bhatinda, Faridkot, Ludhiana, Ropar, Sangrur and Tarn Taran. Among the winners was Simranjit Singh Mann, the former IPS officer just released from prison where had been jailed for allegedly conspiring to assassinate Indira Gandhi and founder-president of the new party. Another winner was Bimal Khalsa, the Delhi nurse and widow of one of Indira Gandhi's assassins, Beant Singh, the sub-inspector who was slain by the Indo Tibetan Border Police personnel on October 31, 1984. She won from Ropar. The Shiromani Akali Dal-Badal, the main Akali party, did not win any of the four seats it contested in 1989, finishing a poor fourth in Amritsar, Faridkot and Ludhiana, and fifth in Gurdaspur. The SAD-Mann was wiped out in the 1991, 1996 and 1998 elections, not winning a single seat. It was only in 1999 that Mann won Sangrur, defeating Surjeet Singh Barnala. This time, he faces Union Chemicals Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa in a four-cornered contest that also includes the Congress' Arvind Khanna and the BSP's Mangat Rai Bansal.

Correct!
It was the second general election conducted -- the 1985 poll was the first -- as the Khalistan movement cast a shroud of terror over the Punjab countryside. The results astounded the pundits as the newly founded Shiromani Akali Dal-Mann won Bhatinda, Faridkot, Ludhiana, Ropar, Sangrur and Tarn Taran. Among the winners was Simranjit Singh Mann, the former IPS officer just released from prison where had been jailed for allegedly conspiring to assassinate Indira Gandhi and founder-president of the new party. Another winner was Bimal Khalsa, the Delhi nurse and widow of one of Indira Gandhi's assassins, Beant Singh, the sub-inspector who was slain by the Indo Tibetan Border Police personnel on October 31, 1984. She won from Ropar. The Shiromani Akali Dal-Badal, the main Akali party, did not win any of the four seats it contested in 1989, finishing a poor fourth in Amritsar, Faridkot and Ludhiana, and fifth in Gurdaspur. The SAD-Mann was wiped out in the 1991, 1996 and 1998 elections, not winning a single seat. It was only in 1999 that Mann won Sangrur, defeating Surjeet Singh Barnala. This time, he faces Union Chemicals Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa in a four-cornered contest that also includes the Congress' Arvind Khanna and the BSP's Mangat Rai Bansal.

2. The Samajwadi Party has fielded Jayapradha from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. Which notable of the freedom movement won the first election from here in 1952?
a. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
b. Gobind Ballabh Pant.
c. Rafi Ahmed Kidwai.

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong!
The correct answer is A.
The man who wrote the classic India Wins Freedom was the first winner in a constituency that more often than not elected a Congress candidate. The Nawab of Rampur, Zulfiquar Ali Khan, won five times -- 1967, 1971, 1980, 1984 and 1989. The first time as a Swatantra Party candidate; the other four times as a Congressman. His widow, the elegant Begum Noor Bano, won the seat in 1996 and 1999, losing to the current BJP spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi by 4,936 votes in 1998. In 1999, she defeated him by 115,471 votes. His time, she faces Jayapradha, the BSP's Afroz Ali Khan and the BJP's Rajendra Sharma, who won the seat twice, in 1977 and 1991, and lost twice to the Nawab in 1984 and 1989, and once to the Begum in 1996.
Correct!
The man who wrote the classic India Wins Freedom was the first winner in a constituency that more often than not elected a Congress candidate. The Nawab of Rampur, Zulfiquar Ali Khan, won five times -- 1967, 1971, 1980, 1984 and 1989. The first time as a Swatantra Party candidate; the other four times as a Congressman. His widow, the elegant Begum Noor Bano, won the seat in 1996 and 1999, losing to the current BJP spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi by 4,936 votes in 1998. In 1999, she defeated him by 115,471 votes. His time, she faces Jayapradha, the BSP's Afroz Ali Khan and the BJP's Rajendra Sharma, who won the seat twice, in 1977 and 1991, and lost twice to the Nawab in 1984 and 1989, and once to the Begum in 1996.

3. Kannauj is the seat currently held by Netaji Jr -- Akhilesh Yadav, son of Netaji Sr, Mulayam Singh Yadav. Which well-known lady politician made her parliamentary debut, by winning the seat in 1984?
a. Shiela Dixit.
b. Mayawati.
c. Uma Bharti.

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is A.
Dixit, daughter-in-law of the veteran Uma Shankar Dixit and widow of the respected UP civil servant Vinod Dixit, defeated Chotey Singh Yadav, who had won the seat in 1980 on a Janata Party-Secular ticket. She lost in 1989 to Yadav (Janata Dal) who also won the seat in 1991 (Janata Party), defeating the BJP's T N Chaturvedi. In 1996, contesting on a Samajwadi Party ticket, he lost to the BJP's Chandra Bhushan Singh, who lost in 1998 to the SP's Pradeep Yadav. In 1999, Mulayam Singh contested from Kannauj as well as from Sambhal. He won both, gave up Kannauj, which his son then won in a by-election.
Correct!
Dixit, daughter-in-law of the veteran Uma Shankar Dixit and widow of the respected UP civil servant Vinod Dixit, defeated Chotey Singh Yadav, who had won the seat in 1980 on a Janata Party-Secular ticket. She lost in 1989 to Yadav (Janata Dal) who also won the seat in 1991 (Janata Party), defeating the BJP's T N Chaturvedi. In 1996, contesting on a Samajwadi Party ticket, he lost to the BJP's Chandra Bhushan Singh, who lost in 1998 to the SP's Pradeep Yadav. In 1999, Mulayam Singh contested from Kannauj as well as from Sambhal. He won both, gave up Kannauj, which his son then won in a by-election.

4. Not even Tridib Chaudhuri, who won Behrampore a then record seven times since 1952 can match Amar Roy Pradhan's record in West Bengal. He has won his seat eight times in a row, since 1977. Which seat?
a. Contai.
b. Cooch Behar.
c. Burdwan.

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is B.
The Congress won Cooch Behar twice, in 1957 and 1971. The All India Forward Bloc -- a party Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose founded and an ally of the CPI-M in West Bengal -- has won it every other election. Interestingly, Cooch Behar, a princely province from where Gayatri Devi, later the Maharani of Jaipur, hailed, is a reserved (scheduled caste) constituency.
Correct!
The Congress won Cooch Behar twice, in 1957 and 1971. The All India Forward Bloc -- a party Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose founded and an ally of the CPI-M in West Bengal -- has won it every other election. Interestingly, Cooch Behar, a princely province from where Gayatri Devi, later the Maharani of Jaipur, hailed, is a reserved (scheduled caste) constituency.

5. Delhi has the largest constituency in India, voter-wise -- Outer Delhi. It also has the smallest constituency in India, area wise. Identify it please.
a. Karol Bagh.
b. Chandni Chowk.
c. Delhi Sadr.

Wrong! Try again..
Wrong! The correct answer is B.
Chandni Chowk is only 10.59 sq km large, and has the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid within its precincts. Smriti Malhotra Irani, the 27-year-old television star, is the BJP candidate here. Earlier winners include Sikander Bakht, who recently passed away as Kerala's governor (he won in 1977 on a Janata Party ticket) and BJP leader Vijay Goel, who won it in 1999, but has shifted to Delhi Sadr this time. The Congress nominee is star lawyer Kapil Sibal. The Congress has won this seat seven times, though not in the last two elections, when Goel defeated Jai Prakash Aggarwal who won it in 1984, 1989 and 1996.
Correct!
Chandni Chowk is only 10.59 sq km large, and has the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid within its precincts. Smriti Malhotra Irani, the 27-year-old television star, is the BJP candidate here. Earlier winners include Sikander Bakht, who recently passed away as Kerala's governor (he won in 1977 on a Janata Party ticket) and BJP leader Vijay Goel, who won it in 1999, but has shifted to Delhi Sadr this time. The Congress nominee is star lawyer Kapil Sibal. The Congress has won this seat seven times, though not in the last two elections, when Goel defeated Jai Prakash Aggarwal who won it in 1984, 1989 and 1996.

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

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Quiz 5
Quiz 6
Quiz 7
Quiz 8
Quiz 9
Quiz 10
Quiz 11
Quiz 12
Quiz 13
Quiz 14
Quiz 15
Quiz 16
Quiz 17
Quiz 18
Quiz 19
Quiz 20
Quiz 21

Compiled by G K Gokhale
Image: Uttam Ghosh



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