Poll position

1 He won the Lok Sabha elections from Balrampur in 1957 and 1961, Gwalior in 1971, New Delhi in 1977 and 1980, Vidisha in 1991 and Gandhinagar in 1996. Who is he and which other constituency did he represent?

2 Star Wars Day is celebrated on May 4, primarily because of the wordplay on the phrase ‘may the fourth be with you’. But whose path-breaking win in 1979 was the phrase first used to celebrate?

3 Andrew Jackson being referred to as a ‘jackass’ by opponents during the 1828 US Presidential elections led to which tradition in American politics?

4 What do Thai, Singapore, Nigerian, Malaysian and South African elections owe to an Indian company owned by the government of Karnataka?

5 Bharatdas Darshandas lives in Banej Tirthdham, in Gujarat’s Una assembly constituency. What has been his claim to fame in the last two Lok Sabha elections?

6 The wife was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1952. The husband was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kanara, making them the first Parliamentarian husband and wife in independent India. Their daughter-in-law was also a Union minister and the governor of Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. Name the couple.

7 Which Bollywood film of 2001, focused around a State election, was based on the extremely successful 1999 Tamil film Mudhalvan?

8 Which bestselling author wrote a 2012 novel about the council elections in a suburban West Country town named Pagford? The book sold more than 500,000 copies, and was still considered a flop by the author’s normal standards.

9 In 1872, Victoria Woodhull became the first woman to run for the US President. In what way was her choice of running mate also a first?

10 If it was two bullocks and a cow between 1952 and 1971, and a cow with a suckling calf between 1971 and 1977, what is it currently?

Answers

1. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the only person to have won from six different constituencies. The other seat he has represented is Lucknow, in 1991, 1996 and 1998

2. Margaret Thatcher being elected as Britain’s first woman Prime Minister on May 4, 1979

3. Cartoonist Thomas Nast picked up on it and used the donkey as the symbol of the Democratic Party

4. They have all used the indelible ink used to mark fingers, manufactured by Mysore Paints & Varnish, the company that also supplies the same for all Indian elections

5. He is the sole voter to use a special polling booth — the only one in the country to be arranged for just one person — in the middle of the Gir forest

6. Violet and Joachim Alva; Margaret Alva was their daughter-in-law

7. Nayak, starring Anil Kapoor. The Bangladeshi film Minister was also based on the Tamil original

8. JK Rowling; The Casual Vacancy, which sold more than 500,000 copies, was her first novel after the Harry Potter series

9. Woodhull’s vice-presidential candidate, Frederick Douglass was the first African-American to be nominated for election

10. The palm, the symbol of the Indian National Congress. The others were the previous symbols used by the party.

Joy Bhattacharjyais a quizmaster and Project Director, FIFA U-17 World Cup

Follow Joy on Twitter @joybhattacharj

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