Consider the following pairs:
| Party | Its Leader | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Bharatiya Jana Sangh | Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee |
| 2. | Socialist Party | C. Rajagopalachari |
| 3. | Congress for Democracy | Jagjivan Ram |
| 4. | Swatantra Party | Acharya Narendra Dev |
How many of the above are correctly matched?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) Only two
Pairs 1 and 3 are correct: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee founded the Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1951, and Jagjivan Ram led the Congress for Democracy. In pairs 2 and 4 the leaders are swapped: C. Rajagopalachari led the Swatantra Party, while Acharya Narendra Dev was a socialist leader.
- ✓ 1. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh was formed in 1951 with Shyama Prasad Mukherjee as its founder-President.
- ✗ 2. C. Rajagopalachari is associated with the Swatantra Party. He is not among the socialist leaders NCERT names, such as Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Rammanohar Lohia.
- ✓ 3. Some Congress leaders left the party under Jagjivan Ram's leadership and formed the Congress for Democracy, which later merged with the Janata Party.
- ✗ 4. Acharya Narendra Dev was among the leaders of the socialist parties. The Swatantra Party, formed in 1959, was led by C. Rajagopalachari.
Remember · Jana Sangh: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (1951). Congress for Democracy: Jagjivan Ram. Swatantra Party: C. Rajagopalachari (1959). Narendra Dev: socialist.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Politics in India since Independence, Ch 2 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Politics in India since Independence, Ch 6 (practise this chapter) · Class 12 Politics in India since Independence, Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · Politics in India since Independence, Chapter 2 “The Bharatiya Jana Sangh was formed in 1951 with Shyama Prasad Mukherjee as its founder-President.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Politics in India since Independence, Chapter 6 “Some other Congress leaders also came out and formed a separate party under the leadership of Jagjivan Ram. This party named as Congress for Democracy, later merged with the Janata Party.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Politics in India since Independence, Chapter 2 “Jayaprakash Narayan, Achyut Patwardhan, Asoka Mehta, Acharya Narendra Dev, Rammanohar Lohia and S.M. Joshi were among the leaders of the socialist parties.”
- NCERT, Class 12 Politics in India since Independence, Ch 2 Era of One-party Dominance (2021-22 edition, Internet Archive copy of ncert.nic.in) ↗ “Swatantra Party was formed in August 1959 after the Nagpur resolution of the Congress which called for land ceilings, take-over of food grain trade by the state and adoption of cooperative farming. The party was led by old Congressmen like C. Rajagopalachari, K.M.Munshi, N.G.Ranga and Minoo Masani.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·