Q.(a) "On many crucial issues, a broad agreement has emerged among most political parties in India." Support the statement with any three examples.

The phrase 'Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram' is one of the most colourful and telling expressions in Indian political history. It captures the chaotic practice of political defections — where elected legislators would switch parties frequently, often for personal gain or ministerial positions. The phrase itself became a shorthand for the instability and opportunism that plagued state governments in the post-Independence era.

The origin of this phrase lies in the politics of Haryana in the late 1960s. At that time, Haryana had been carved out of Punjab in 1966, and its political landscape was highly fluid. In 1967, a legislator named Gaya Lal, who had been elected as a member of the Indian National Congress, defected to the opposition United Front. Within a short span — reportedly just a few weeks — he switched sides multiple times, returning to the Congress and then defecting again. The frequency and audacity of his defections became a public joke.

It was the then Chief Minister of Haryana, Rao Birendra Singh, who famously remarked, "Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram" — a pun on the legislator's name, Gaya Ram, and the Hindi words for "came Ram, went Ram." The phrase caught on immediately and entered the lexicon of Indian politics. It was used to mock the lack of ideological commitment among politicians who would change parties as easily as changing clothes.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) is a significant farmers' organization in India, known for its advocacy and mobilization efforts on behalf of agricultural communities. Its emergence and sustained influence reflect the ongoing challenges and political importance of the farming sector in the country.

The BKU gained considerable prominence from the late 1980s onwards, particularly in states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana. It distinguished itself by organizing large-scale protests and rallies, often employing non-violent methods to draw attention to farmers' grievances. These grievances typically revolved around issues such as:

• Fair prices for agricultural produce: Demanding remunerative prices for crops to ensure farmers' profitability.
• Subsidies and government support: Advocating for better subsidies on inputs like fertilizers, electricity, and irrigation.
• Debt relief: Pushing for measures to alleviate the burden of agricultural debt.
• Land rights and acquisition: Protecting farmers' interests in matters of land ownership and government acquisition. …

The story of India's voting method in the late 1990s is really the story of a quiet revolution — one that took the country from the age of the paper ballot to the age of the machine. For decades after independence, every election in India was conducted using paper ballots. Voters would mark their choice on a slip of paper and drop it into a ballot box. It was a system that worked, but it came with serious problems: ballot boxes could be stuffed with fake votes, polling agents could be intimidated, and counting votes often took days or even weeks, leaving the entire country in suspense.

By the 1990s, these problems had become too big to ignore. The Election Commission of India, under the leadership of Chief Election Commissioner T.N. Seshan and later M.S. Gill, began pushing for a technological fix. The answer was the Electronic Voting Machine, or EVM. The EVM was not a computer — it was a simple, standalone electronic device with two units: a control unit with the presiding officer and a balloting unit with buttons for each candidate. A voter would press the button next to the symbol of their chosen candidate, and the vote would be recorded electronically inside the machine.

The first major test of the EVM came in 1998, when it was used in a limited number of constituencies in three states — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi. The results were encouraging. Voting was faster, the machines were tamper-proof (or at least far harder to tamper with than ballot boxes), and the counting of votes was completed in hours instead of days. The Election Commission then moved decisively. By the 1999 general elections, EVMs were used in 46 constituencies across the country. And by the early 2000s, they had become the standard method for all elections in India.

In Indian politics, the term "defection" refers to a legislator switching allegiance from the political party on whose ticket they were elected to another party, often for personal gain or political advantage rather than ideological conviction. This practice has historically been a significant challenge to political stability and democratic principles. The colourful phrase "Aya Ram Gaya Ram" perfectly encapsulates the essence of this opportunistic and frequent party switching.

The origin of this iconic phrase dates back to 1967, a period marked by considerable political fluidity and instability, particularly in several North Indian states. The incident that gave birth to "Aya Ram Gaya Ram" involved a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Haryana named Gaya Lal.

• On a single day in 1967, Gaya Lal, who was initially elected as an independent candidate, first joined the Indian National Congress.
• Within hours, he defected from the Congress to the United Front.
• Shortly thereafter, he switched back to the Congress.

When Gaya Lal returned to the Congress, Rao Birender Singh, a prominent Congress leader at the time, brought him before the press and famously declared, "Gaya Ram was now Aya Ram." This statement, referring to Gaya Lal's rapid changes of allegiance, instantly captured the public imagination and became a widely used idiom.