The expression Aya Ram, Gaya Ram is related to the issue of:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Defection
Option (1) Casteism — Incorrect. Casteism is politics built on loyalty to one’s caste. The expression is about legislators changing parties, whatever their caste.
Option (2) Anti Congressism — Incorrect. Non-Congressism was the strategy, named by Ram Manohar Lohia, of the opposition parties coming together to topple the Congress. It brought parties together; it was not about members leaving one party for another.
Option (3) Syndicate — Incorrect. The Syndicate was the informal name of a group of Congress leaders in control of the party’s organisation, led by K. Kamraj.
Option (4) Defection — Correct. Defection means an elected representative leaves the party on whose symbol he or she was elected and joins another party. The expression ‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’ (Ram came and Ram went) describes this practice of frequent floor-crossing by legislators; it began with Gaya Lal, an MLA in Haryana, who changed his party thrice in a fortnight in 1967.
Note: A same/similar question was asked in CUET (UG) in the papers below.
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
| – | – | – | 02-06 S3 08-06 S1 | – |
NCERT (2026-27): “Defection … Another important feature of the politics after the 1967 election was the role played by defections in the making and unmaking of governments in the States. Defection means an elected representative leaves the party on whose symbol he/she was elected and joins another party. After the 1967 general election, the breakaway Congress legislators played an important role in installing non-Congress governments in three States - Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The constant realignments and shifting political loyalties in this period gave rise to the expression ‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’.… The story of ‘Aya Ram, Gaya Ram’ … The expression ‘aya ram, gaya ram’ became popular in the political vocabulary in India to describe the practice of frequent floor-crossing by legislators. Literally translated the terms meant, Ram came and Ram went. The expression originated in an amazing feat of floor crossing achieved by Gaya Lal, an MLA in Haryana, in 1967.… Non-Congressism … The socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia gave this strategy the name of ‘non-Congressism’.… The Congress ‘Syndicate’ … Syndicate was the informal name given to a group of Congress leaders who were in control of the party’s organisation.…” |