Target Exam

CUET

Subject

Political Science

Chapter

Politics in India Since Independence: Recent Developments in Indian Politics

Question:

Read the passage and answer the question:

The 1980s also saw the rise of political organisation of the Dalits. In 1978 BAMCEF was formed. This organisation was not an ordinary trade union of government employees. It took a strong position in favour of political power to the ‘bahujan’ – the SC, ST, OBC and minorities. It was out of this that the subsequent Dalit Shoshit Samaj Sangharsh Samiti and later the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) emerged under the leadership of Kanshi Ram. The BSP began as a small party supported largely by Dalit voters in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. But in 1989 and the 1991 elections, it achieved a breakthrough in Uttar Pradesh. This was the first time in independent India that a political party supported mainly by Dalit voters had achieved this kind of political success.

In which major states of North India, Dalit voters supported the Bahujan Samaj Party?

Options:

Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh

Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh

Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh

Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh

Correct Answer:

Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option 3 - Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh

The BSP began as a small party supported largely by Dalit voters in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. But in 1989 and the 1991 elections, it achieved a breakthrough in Uttar Pradesh. This was the first time in independent India that a political party supported mainly by Dalit voters had achieved this kind of political success.