Question

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

1. What according to the author, is the difference between the strategies of Nehru and Indira Gandhi?
2. Why does the author say that the Congress party ‘died’ in the seventies?
3. In what way did the change in the Congress party affect other political parties also?

Answer 1

1. According to the author, the main difference between the strategies of Nehru and Indira Gandhi is that Jawaharlal Nehru led the Congress into a federal, democratic and ideological nature, whereas Indira Gandhi converted it into a highly centralised and undemocratic party.
2. The Congress party died in the seventies due to the changed nature of Congress; the new populist politics turned political ideology into a mere electoral discouragement and the use of various slogans never meant to be translated into government policies, i.e., electoral victories of the 1970s.
3. The change in the Congress party affected other political parties also, as they formed SVD (Samyukt Vidhayak Dal) in the form of coalitions and grand alliances.