Q.1.

Critically discuss Gandhi and Nehrus idea of India Indias diversity was incarnated in the gallery of characters who constituted the nationalist pantheon. It contains people from markedly different backgrounds, yet whose trajectories were often parallel. Most passed through some form of western education, and some led cosmopolitan lives. Gandhi : In place of an Indian unit based on a common historical past, Gandhi settled on religion as a source of interconnection among Indians, but manufactured his own eclectic and pluralist morality from different religious traditions namely folk, Bhakti traditions as well as Christian morality. His appeal to preexisting local beliefs and identities in order to create a larger, India one was tied to an idea of swadeshi, a patriotism based on respect for the everyday material world. His adoption of cloth as a symbol of interconnection exemplified this esteem. By spinning and weaving their own cloth, that is self-production, Indians would regain the economic control and cultural self-respect that colonialism had usurped and battered. They would be linked by common forms of production, and the wearing of khadi would Indians by removing the distinguishing marks of caste proclaimed in the signature of traditional dress. This ambition of a self-producing community was strongly moralizing and dispensed entirely with the idea of a territorial nation state. In Gandhi's view, spiritual values should not be separated from politics, economics, agriculture, education, and all the other activities of daily life. Gandhis ideals of gram swaraj (village republic), and sarvodaya were rooted in native traditions. With unique sensitivity he provoked a patriotic symbolism that allowed him to be visualized not merley as an all-Indian leader among the nationalists elite but as a saint in the different regions and communities of India. When asked about his message to the world, Gandhi said My life is my message Nehru : Where Tagore worked the poetic language and Gandhi turned to religious traditions to make their Indian selves, Nehru discovered India and himself through the medium of history. Nehrus idea of India sought to coordinate within the form of a modern state of variety of values: democracy, religious tolerance, economic development and cultural pluralism. While Nehru was attracted by the political and economic examples of the modern west, he was far less taken by its cultural models. It was fundamental to him that Indian Nationalism could not fashion itself after European examples. In contrast to the academic analysts who see nationalism as the diffusion of a standard form devised in the industrialized west whether in the Gallic version of a community of common citizenship of the volkisch idea of a shared ethnic or cultural origin Nehru self-consciously rejected the Idea that Indian nationalism was compelled to make itself in one or other of these images.

The overarching theme was the invention of India.The major pillars were : Democracy and democratic institution building : Unlike Tagore and Gandhi , for whom state was a dispensable nuisance, Nehru believed that an Indian Identity could emerge only within the territorial and institutional frame of a state. A specifically Indian compromise was needed, it was outlined in the practical adaption after 1947 of the state into a distinctive model shaped by Nehrus understanding of the Indian Past : a model committed to protecting cultural and religious difference rather than imposing a uniform Indianness. Socialism - creating a statist socialist system A socialist state to be attained through democratic processes Western in its conception, but with an elasticity to address diversities (an opportunistic approach to economic planning ) Foreign policy of nonalignment- The assertion of independent nationhood became much more the be-all and end-all of Indian foreign policy (The policy may have preserved self-respect and enhanced international standing but brought very few, if any, concrete benefits to the Indian polity; And again, the issue of the limitations of Indias foreign policy was brought into sharp relief in the disastrous failure over China which led to the humiliating defeat in a war for which India was completely unprepared in 1962) Western indoctrination in his secular concept of the state An all inclusive view of Indian nationalism - Progress towards creating a secular state was made in the constitutional provision abolishing caste untouchability, in the abolition of the communal electorates, and in Nehrus opposition to the use of police power of the state in enforcing veneration of the cow Western concepts of individual rights and liberties vis--vis the Indian environment individual freedoms also carry responsibilities there must be discipline, either voluntary or imposed

Q10. (3) Nehrus idea of state and religion. Where Tagore worked the poetic language and Gandhi turned to religious traditions to make their Indian selves, Nehru discovered India and himself through the medium of history. Nehrus idea of India sought to coordinate within the form of a modern state of variety of values: democracy, religious tolerance, economic development and cultural pluralism. While Nehru was attracted by the political and economic examples of the modern west, he was far less taken by its cultural models. It was fundamental to him that Indian Nationalism could not fashion itself after European examples. In contrast to the academic analysts who see nationalism as the diffusion of a standard form devised in the industrialized west whether in the Gallic version of a community of common citizenship of the volkisch idea of a shared ethnic or cultural origin Nehru self-consciously rejected the Idea that Indian nationalism was compelled to make itself in one or other of these images. He saw India as neither a society of liberal individuals nor exclusive communities but of interconnected difference. This guided his practice post 1947. The overarching theme was the invention of India.The major pillars were : Democracy and democratic institution building : Unlike Tagore and Gandhi , for whom state was a dispensable nuisance, Nehru believed that an Indian Identity could emerge only within the territorial and institutional frame of a state. A specifically Indian compromise was needed, it was outlined in the practical adaption after 1947 of the state into a distinctive model shaped by Nehrus understanding of the Indian Past : a model committed to protecting cultural and religious difference rather than imposing a uniform Indianness. Socialism - creating a statist socialist system A socialist state to be attained through democratic processes Western in its conception, but with an elasticity to address diversities Foreign policy of nonalignment- The assertion of independent nationhood became much more the be-all and end-all of Indian foreign Western indoctrination in his secular concept of the state An all inclusive view of Indian nationalism - Progress towards creating a secular state was made in the constitutional provision abolishing caste untouchability, in the abolition of the communal electorates, and in Nehrus opposition to the use of police power of the state in enforcing veneration of the cow Western concepts of individual rights and liberties vis--vis the Indian environment individual freedoms also carry responsibilities there must be discipline, either voluntary or imposed

Q6. CHALLENGES TO REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people, as opposed to either autocracy or direct democracy. Representative democracy involves the selection of government officials by the people being represented. It is more properly called a democratic republic. The most common mechanisms involve election of the candidate with a majority or a plurality of the votes. Representatives may be elected or become diplomatic representatives by a particular district (or constituency), or represent the entire electorate proportionally proportional systems, with some using a combination of the two. A characteristic of representative democracy is that while the representatives are elected by the people to act in their interest, they retain the freedom to exercise their own judgment as how best to do so. The power of representatives in a liberal democracy is usually curtailed by a constitution or other measures to balance representative power such as an independent judiciary. If any democracy is not carefully legislated to avoid an uneven distribution of political power with balances, such as the separation of powers, then a branch of the system of rule could accumulate power and become harmful to the democracy itself. The "majority rule" is often described as a characteristic feature of democracy, but without responsible government it is possible for the rights of a minority to be abused by the "tyranny of the majority". Under-representation in political and public life and economics are interrelated. However respect for fundamental rights such as non-discrimination (Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) may not be sufficient to ensure truly effective participation and representation of minorities in public life. If one maintains a strictly formalistic reading of the right of one person one vote, there is the potential danger of perpetuating the tyranny of the majority inherent in most political systems. Persons belonging to the minorities would still tend to be less visible and less audible in all sphere of public life, with the result that their interest would naturally tend to be ignored or disregarded. This under-representation of persons belonging to religious minorities is, however, not directly attributable to any actual desire by the state to reduce or eliminate the election of citizens who happen to belong to a minority. It is simply a manifestation of a structural difficulty or flaw in many political systems, including majoritarian democracies. Because of the lower number and territorial dispersion minorities are systematically outvoted in terms of there participation and representation in public life. This means that the minorities can almost never elect the number of representatives that reflect more of less faithfully their actual percentage of the population. In our democratic system their voices in the world of political representation tend to be either weak or barely audible, their presence almost invisible.

Q. DISCUSS COALITION POLITICS IN INDIA. "With the replacement of the Dominant Party System of India, minority and/or coalition governments in New Delhi have become the order of the day. Except for the Congress Minority Government of P.V. Narsimha Rao and National Democratic Alliance Government of Atal Behari Vajpayee, all such governments since 1989 have been unstable. Yet instability apart, coalition governments have been effective in enhancing democratic legitimacy, representativeness and national unity. Major policy shifts like neo-liberal economic reforms, federal decentring, and grass roots decentralization, in theory or practice, are largely attributable to the onset of federal coalitional governance. Coalition governments in states and at the centre have also facilitated gradual transition of the Marxist-left and the Hindu-right into the political establishment, and thus contributed to the integration of the party system as well as the nation. The same major national parties which initially rejected the idea of coalition politics have today accepted it and are maturing into skilled and virtuoso performers at the game. In a rather short span of over a decade, India has witnessed coalition governments of three major muted hues: (a) middle-of-the-road Centrist Congress Minority Government of P.V. Narsimha Rao, going against its Left Centre of reputation, initiated neo-liberal economic reforms in 1991; (b) three Left-of-centre governments formed by the Janata-Dal-led National/United Front; and (c) two Right-of-Centre coalition governments formed by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance under Atal Behari Vajpayee, a votary of secular version of Hindu nationalism. In the wake of the decline of Congress Dominance, the fragmentation of the National Party System and the emergence of party systems at the regional level have turned India into a chequered federal chessboard. The past and likely future patterns of coalition governments in New Delhi are suggestive of at least three models of power sharing: (a) coalition of more or less equal partners, e.g. the National Front and the United Front, (b) coalition of relatively smaller parties led by a major party, e.g. National Democratic Alliance; and (c) coalition of relatively smaller parties facilitated but not necessarily led by a prime minister from the major party, e.g. the coalition of parties formed in 2004 around the Indian National Congress, avowing secular Indian Nationalism. Formation of coalition governments reflects the transition in Indian politics away from the national parties toward smaller, more narrowly-based regional parties. Some regional parties, especially in South India, are deeply aligned to the ideologies of the region unlike the national parties and thus the relationship between the central government and the state government in various states has not always been free of rancour. Disparity between the ideologies of the political parties ruling the centre and the state leads to severely skewed allocation of resources between the states.

The full-term stability of the NDA and the endurance of the UPA for three years as of today, has also been due to the fact that coalitions in India since 1996 have been characterized to a large

degree by spatial compatibility, that is, they consist of a patchwork quilt of parties that have statespecific bases and do not compete on each other's turf. This enables even minority coalitions dependent on outside support to last, combined with the fact that in the UPA's case the supporting Left parties, whatever their dissatisfaction with Congress policies do not wish to create an opportunity for the BJP to return to power once again. The conventional wisdom of the coalition politics debate says that a democratic state with a weak center should not be able to enact serious policy changes. And yet India since the 1990s has made significant headway with economic reforms all the while with a weak center. India is an anomaly but that is only if the concerned party focuses exclusively on the domestic political developments. The development discourse to date focuses almost exclusively on the domestic aspect of reforms and in order to understand Indias reform process one must at once examine the domestics, both politics and market developments, but so too the implications of external linkages on the coalition formation and sustainability of reforms. It is through the vantage, the coalition interests, that power comes to the fore, primarily in the form of market and military. Power must be traced both at the domestic and global levels, and hence the relevance of the collapse and how this shaped power at Indias domestic level.

Q.4. Has the Indian Constitution succeeded in creating conditions for equality and social justice? Explain, citing examples. The constitution gives an idea of the society which is sought to be built and also defines the space and the framework of action to realize the vision. The Principal Objectives of the Constitution are equality and Justice Equality: Equality of status and opportunity to all citizens irrespective of caste, creed, religion, gender and ethnicity Justice: Socio-economic and political justice- special safeguards for scheduled caste/ Tribes, underprivileged sections and Minorities The concepts of equality and social justice, which form the foundation of the constitution, are at odds with the premise of inequality of status by birth embedded in the traditional values and practices of Indian society. There are certain groups in the Indian society that have been historically marginalized and excluded from the social and economic mainstream of everyday life. Although constitutionally they are guaranteed political power and representation in the form of universal adult suffrage, the right to vote rarely ever translates to any real fundamental change in their life, status and in many cases in their representation in the decision making bodies of the country.

Minority representation equality for all not ensured A 1994 survey by the national Council for Applied Economic Research shows that poverty is widespread among muslims. The percentage of population below the poverty line is 43% for Muslims in comparison with 39% for the whole population (32% for the Hindus excluding SCs and STs). Along with Scs and STs, Muslims can be considered as an economically deprived group. To some extent the reason for their relative backwardness are social; but there is no denying that their relative bargaining power in the social and political system has always been low. The Indian Constitution guarantees much to minority groups, the laws do not translate to appropriate representation. The electoral system in India needs to be studied to balance the interests of majority and minority communities and modified accordingly, so that the entitlement of the religious minorities to special treatment as individuals (citizens) is recognized their communal membership serving only to identify them as deserving beneficiaries. Women not represented Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles of the Constitution not only grant equality to women, but also empower the State to adopt measures of positive discrimination in favor of women.

Womens participation in political decision making plays a crucial role in the process of enhancing womens participation in public life. But, inadequate representation of women in politics is a problem in all of the democratic countries of the world today, including India. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the Indian Constitution provided for reservation of 33.33 per cent of elected seats for women at different levels of local governance in both rural and urban areas. However, the number of women representatives in both houses of parliament though steadily increasing continues to be very low. They represent only 8.2 per cent of the total Members in Parliament in 2005. The number of women in the Central Council of Ministers continues to remain extremely low, and there has been a decline in this proportion between 2002 and 2005. The path of the womens bill, which seeks 33 percent reservation for women in Parliament and State Assemblies, has been pending since 1996. Successive governments have placed it on the table of Parliament, but only to shelve it in the absence of a political consensus. Giving representation to women in Parliament is not only a question of giving fair representation to women in working of the nation, but also a question of social justice, gender balance and gender equality. Moreover, as it is a matter of right for women to ask for fair representation, for they constitute 50% of the demos.

Caste The caste system continues to exercise a powerful influence on the political, social and economic life of the people. With the introduction of adult franchise, people have become conscious of the power of the vote. Since castes are the most organized groups, politicians find it easy to woo the people on the basis of caste. In fact, political parties take special care to select those candidates who can get the majority of votes of a particular caste. However, reservation for SC/ST and the emergence of strong regional caste based political parties such as the BSP have to an extent ensured that the voice of the dalit does not go unheard. While crimes against the dalits continue in many parts of the country, there has been organized resistance to discrimination against the backward castes for a long time. Reservations Provisions of the constitution go beyond enabling the government to give preferences to specified classes of citizens but require that the government give preferences. There was consensus that two groups were so disadvantaged (because long history of discrimination, socially, economically and politically) that they ought to be beneficiaries of a system of affirmative action. One was scheduled caste, comprising about 15.7% of the population. The other was the scheduled tribes, 7.7% of the population. Article 335 provides for reservation of jobs for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the administrative services while other constitutional provisions provide for reservations in parliament and state assemblies. The government set a quota for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes for all government appointments, including representations in the public sector. Quotas were established for admission in elite educational institutions such as medical schools and the national universities. A bill that overturns the reservation in elite educational institutions was recently passed in the Rajya Sabha. Conclusion The people and also those at the helm of affairs should try to implement the provisions of the Constitution in letter and spirit, thereby paving the way for a society, to be based on democratic principles and making democracy a success instead of mockery. Unless the entry of members of historically and socially disadvantaged groups are facilitated by special measures the constitutional provisions for equality of opportunity for all citizens would remain near paper declarations.