Indian Political Parties Trivia Quiz

Answer: Indira

The Indian National Congress (INC) is the oldest political party in India, founded in 1885 by an Englishman A.O Hume. Since independence, the party has been dominated by the Nehru family, with first Jawaharlal Nehru and then his daughter Indira Gandhi, followed by Indira's son Rajiv and his widow Sonia.

The party split in the year 1967 into two groups, Congress (O - Organization) and Congress (I - Indira, after Indira Gandhi). The Congress (I) was later recognized as the real Congress party by the Election Commission.

Answer: Lotus

In Indian elections, the electoral symbols played an important role, right from the first election - the reason being the high levels of illiteracy. Till date, parties are known by their election symbol. National political parties have a reserved symbol which is exclusively allotted for their use. 'Lotus flower' is the symbol of the BJP, 'Hand' is the symbol of the Congress (I) and 'Hammer and sickle' is of course the symbol of the Communists (CPM). 'The cow and calf' was the original symbol of the Congress party after Independence.

The BJP is a rightist party, which ruled India from 1998-2004 under the stewardship of Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Answer: West Bengal

The Communist Party of India (CPI) split in 1962 and the splinter group the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPM) became powerful. Kerala and West Bengal are two states where the CPM is strong, but Kerala has always witnessed a keen battle between the CPM and the Congress; but West Bengal was for many years an apparently unconquerable bastion of the communists.

The CPM first won the state elections in 1977 and Jyoti Basu became Chief Minister. From 1977 till 2011, the communists held office in West Bengal, until being beaten by an alliance of the Trinamool Congress and Indian National Congress parties.

Answer: Bal Thackerey

Balasaheb Thackerey is the founder of the extreme right wing Hindu nationalist party, the Shiv Sena. The Shiv Sena (which means army of Shiva) was founded in 1966 by Thackerey who was a cartoonist by profession. The politics of the Shiv Sena is based on 'preference to local people' and 'Hindutva'(Hindu nationalism). Uddhav Thackerey is his son who succeeded him as President of the party, Raj Thackerey is his nephew who broke away and founded the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS). Smita Thackerey is his daughter-in-law associated with Bollywood.

The electoral symbol of the Shiv Sena is 'Bow and Arrow'.

Answer: M G Ramachandran

The AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) was founded by Tamil film star MG Ramachandran (known as MGR) in 1972, after he broke away from his parent party DMK (founded by Annadurai and headed later by Karunanidhi). MGR was a very popular leader and became Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu.

After his death in 1987, his co-star in many films J Jayalalitha took over as leader of the AIADMK. The electoral symbol of the AIADMK is 'two leaves'.

Answer: Kanshi Ram

The Bahujan Samaj Party, BSP (Party of the majority, referring to the downtrodden) is a party founded in 1984 by Kanshiram. The party was inspired by the principles of Dr. Ambedkar, father of the Indian constitution. The party was founded to address the needs of the lower castes and minorities. Since its inception, the party has grown quick and fast and its leader Mayawati became the Chief Minister of the most populous state of India, Uttar Pradesh (UP).

After Kanshi Ram's death, Mayawati has taken over as the undisputed leader of the party.

The electoral symbol of the BSP is the 'elephant'.

Answer: N T Rama Rao

N T Rama Rao or NTR as he was called was a prominent film star of the Telugu film industry in Andhra Pradesh. He founded the Telugu Desam (Telugu nation) party in 1982. He achieved instant success, getting a majority in the state elections and becoming Chief Minister.

In 1995, his son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu toppled him and took control of the party and following NTR's death continues to be president of the party. The electoral symbol of the TDP is the 'cycle'.

Answer: H D Deve Gowda

H D Deve Gowda is a political leader from the state of Karnataka, who was Chief Minister of the state. In 1996, he was the surprise choice for Prime Minister of India, when his party the Janata Dal had a chance to rule. He later split the party and founded the Janata Dal (Secular), JDS.

This party is active mainly in Karnataka. The party's electoral symbol is 'a lady carrying a haystack'.

Answer: Mamata Bannerjee

Mamata Bannerjee is a politician from the state of West Bengal, who initially was a member of the Congress party. She was known as a strong opponent of the communists. In 1998, she broke away from the Congress party and founded the Trinamool (grassroots) Congress.

She allied with the BJP and was a union minister in the Vajpayee Government. The electoral symbol of the Trinamool Congress is 'two flowers with three petals each'.

Answer: Subash Chandra Bose

One of the members of the Left Front of Bengal is the Forward Bloc party. This party was founded by Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, one of the great freedom fighters of India. The party was founded by Bose in 1939 as an alternative to the Congress. But the party did not grow substantially and its presence is mainly in West Bengal where it is a junior partner of the CPM.

Its electoral symbol is a 'tiger and hammer-sickle'. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was the founder of the Jan Sangh (precursor to the BJP, EMS Namboodripad and Prakash Karat have been General-secretaries of the CPM.