Hindi English Translation || Editorial || Winning, differently: On the by-election results in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry

Winning, differently: On the by-election results in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry

Ruling parties sweep by-elections (उपचुनाव), but defections (दल-बदल, निष्ठा बदलना) mar Tamil Nadu results

The by-election results in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, declared on Friday, held few surprises (आश्चर्य, अप्रत्याशित घटना). Barely (मुश्किल से, लगभग नहीं) five months after the April Assembly elections, the ruling (सत्तारूढ़, शासनरत) party in each State/UT won all five bypolls (उपचुनाव). What varied was the scale (पैमाना, व्यापकता) of victory. In West Bengal, the BJP retained (बनाए रखना, अपने पास रखना) Nandigram and wrested (forcibly pull or take something away from someone’s control; seize, snatch, grab, extract) Rejinagar, with strong vote shares of 76% and 63%. In Puducherry, the ruling All India N.R. Congress also registered (दर्ज करना) an emphatic (ज़ोरदार, निर्णायक) win — 61% of the votes — in Thattanchavady. Nandigram and Thattanchavady were vacated (पद छोड़ना, पद रिक्त करना) by the Chief Ministers, which partly (आंशिक रूप से, कुछ हद तक) explains the strong wins. But the contests in Tamil Nadu were closer. Dharapuram and Madurantakam fell vacant after their AIADMK MLAs resigned and defected (abandon one’s political party or cause in favour of an opposing one; desert, change sides, switch allegiance) to the ruling TVK, which renominated (nominate someone again for an election or position; propose again, put forward again, field again, select again) them. Both won their seats back with 37% and 40% of the vote, respectively (separately or individually and in the order already mentioned; correspondingly, individually, severally, sequentially), leading the DMK rival (प्रतिद्वंद्वी) candidates (nominee, applicant, contender, aspirant) by about eight percentage points (the unit used to express the arithmetic difference between two percentages; for example, if one candidate receives 40% of the votes and the rival receives 32%, the difference is 8 percentage points. However, the first candidate’s vote share is 25% higher than the rival’s (8 ÷ 32 × 100)). By-elections tend (be inclined, be apt, be likely, lean) to favour (give an advantage to someone or something; benefit, advantage, prefer, support) the party in power (in charge, in office, governing, commanding), as voters prefer representatives (a person elected by the people of a constituency to represent their interests in the State Legislative Assembly and participate in lawmaking; elected representative, legislator, Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), constituency representative) with access to government. But the variance (difference, variation, discrepancy, divergence) between West Bengal and Tamil Nadu reflects (indicate, show, display, demonstrate) the nature (the basic or inherent features, character, or qualities of something; character, essence, attribute, quality) of contest in two similarly sized States but with vastly (to a very great extent; immensely, hugely, enormously, tremendously) different (dissimilar, unalike, distinct, contrasting) political cultures (the shared beliefs, values, attitudes, and practices that shape how people understand politics, participate in elections, and relate to political institutions and leaders).

In West Bengal, Assembly victories have for decades (a period of ten years; ten-year period) worked as (function as, act as, serve as, operate as) a winner-take-all (relating to an electoral system in which the candidate or party with the most votes wins all the rewards or representation; absolute, total, decisive, all-or-nothing) mandate (the authority to carry out a policy, regarded as given by the electorate to a party or candidate that wins an election; authority, approval, endorsement, authorization), which the ruling party extends (stretch, spread, broaden, expand) to panchayat (a village council or local government body in rural India) and by-elections. The pattern (trend, tendency) took shape during the Left Front’s (an alliance of left-wing political parties in West Bengal, India) long rule, became entrenched (established firmly so that it cannot be changed; ingrained, established, deep-rooted, fixed) during the Trinamool Congress’s 15 years in power and is visible in the BJP’s tenure (a period in an office; term, stint, incumbency, period in office) so far (so far). In these contests, Opposition parties have performed far worse (significantly more poor in quality or lower in standard; much poorer, extremely bad, vastly inferior, decidedly terrible) than in Assembly and Lok Sabha (the lower house of India’s bicameral Parliament, officially known as the House of the People) elections. In Tamil Nadu, however (nevertheless, nonetheless, yet, though), a three-way (involving three distinct participants, parties, or aspects; tripartite, three-sided, ternary, trilateral) contest now has kept politics competitive (fiercely contested, fought-over, closely matched, challenging). The wins have helped the TVK improve its tally (total, count, score, record) to 109 in the House (a legislative assembly, here referring to the State Legislative Assembly) with a sanctioned (authorized, approved, permitted, allowed) membership of 234, but the narrow (small, marginal, slender, slight) margins, despite (in spite of; notwithstanding, regardless of, in the face of, even with) a no-holds-barred (free of restrictions or rules; unrestrained, uninhibited, all-out, fierce) campaign (an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision-making process within a specific group; electioneering, canvassing, movement, drive) by Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, suggest (indicate, imply, point to, signify) that the expected (regarded as likely; anticipated, predicted, awaited, foreseen) honeymoon effect (a short period of goodwill and popularity enjoyed by a new government or political figure; initial popularity, post-election enthusiasm, grace period, initial goodwill) did not fully materialise (happen, occur, come about, take place). The DMK, now the TVK’s principal rival, has shown that it still has a solid base (a group of people who support a political party; foundation, support base, core supporters, loyalists) despite its abrupt (sudden and unexpected; sudden, unexpected, rapid, unforeseen) defeat in May. For the AIADMK, finishing third in the seats it won in May only deepens (intensify, worsen, exacerbate, compound) worries about its decline. Its leadership will now face (confront and deal with or accept a difficult situation; confront, encounter, deal with, tackle) sharper (more intense, more acute) questions about whether it can hold on to (keep or retain something; retain, keep, maintain, preserve) its legislators (a person who makes laws as a member of a legislative body; lawmaker, parliamentarian, representative, assembly member). Four more AIADMK MLAs had joined the TVK and their seats will go to bypolls. This is a regressive (returning to a former or less developed state; backward, retrograde, negative, reverse) turn (shift, change, trend, movement) in Tamil Nadu. MLAs are resigning (voluntarily leave a job or other position; step down, quit, leave, vacate) barely months, sometimes days, into their terms (period, stint, duration, tenure) to share in the loaves and fishes (material benefits, rewards, or personal advantages sought or obtained as an incentive for supporting a person, group, or cause, especially for political or personal gain; spoils of office, personal gain, material rewards, perks) of office and the ruling party re-fields (field a candidate again in an election; renominate, put forward again, field again, propose again) them. This defeats the spirit (the real meaning or the intention behind a law or agreement, as opposed to its strict literal interpretation; essence, intention, true meaning, purpose) of the anti-defection law (the legal provisions contained in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India, inserted by the Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act, 1985, to provide for the disqualification of members of Parliament and State Legislatures on grounds of defection. Under Paragraph 2(1)(a), a member is subject to disqualification for voluntarily giving up their membership of a political party; under Paragraph 2(1)(b), for voting or abstaining from voting contrary to a direction issued by their political party or a person or authority authorised by it, without prior permission, unless the action is condoned by the party, person, or authority concerned within 15 days of the voting or abstention) and overrides (overrule, cancel, overturn, nullify) the Assembly election mandate. That the electorate (all the people in a country or area who are entitled to vote in an election; voters, voting public, electors, constituents) rewarded these manoeuvres (a carefully planned or cunning scheme or action; tactic, scheme, plot, stratagem) should worry anyone who is concerned (worried, anxious, troubled, distressed) about the quality (standard, caliber, condition, level) of representation (the act or process of elected representatives speaking and acting on behalf of the people who elect them, reflecting their interests and concerns in legislative decision-making; political representation, elected representation, public representation, advocacy).

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.differently (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - अलग ढंग से, भिन्न रूप से
English Meaning - in a way that is not the same as something else; dissimilarly, uniquely, distinctively, contrastingly.

2.by-election (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उपचुनाव
English Meaning - an election held between general elections to fill a vacant seat in a legislative body or other elected office, following events such as the death, resignation or disqualification of an elected representative, or the declaration of an election as void; bypoll, bye-election.

3.defection (noun)

Hindi Meaning - दल-बदल, निष्ठा बदलना
English Meaning - the act of abandoning one’s political party or allegiance, particularly by leaving one party to join another; party-switching, change of allegiance, desertion, abandonment, betrayal.

4.surprise (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आश्चर्य, अप्रत्याशित घटना
English Meaning - shock, revelation, bolt from the blue, unexpected development.

5.barely (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - मुश्किल से, लगभग नहीं
English Meaning - hardly, scarcely, just, narrowly.

6.State Legislative Assembly (noun)

Hindi Meaning - राज्य विधानसभा
English Meaning - Under the Constitution of India, a Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) is the elected House of the Legislature of a State. In a unicameral State, it functions as the sole legislative body, whereas in a bicameral State, it serves as the lower House alongside the Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad). Under Article 170, its members (MLAs) are chosen through direct election from territorial constituencies.

7.ruling (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - सत्तारूढ़, शासनरत
English Meaning - currently exercising authority or in control of a government; governing, controlling, commanding, reigning.

8.bypoll (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उपचुनाव
English Meaning - another term for a by-election.

9.scale (noun)

Hindi Meaning - पैमाना, व्यापकता
English Meaning - the relative extent or size of something, such as a victory; magnitude, extent, size, proportion.

10.retain (verb)

Hindi Meaning - बनाए रखना, अपने पास रखना
English Meaning - continue to have something or keep possession of; maintain, keep, hold on to, preserve.

11.register (verb)

Hindi Meaning - दर्ज करना
English Meaning - record or achieve a particular result; record, achieve, attain, post.

12.emphatic (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - ज़ोरदार, निर्णायक
English Meaning - showing a decisive victory; decisive, clear, pronounced, resounding.

13.vacate (verb)

Hindi Meaning - पद छोड़ना, पद रिक्त करना
English Meaning - leave a seat, position, or office empty; resign from, step down from, leave, abandon.

14.partly (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - आंशिक रूप से, कुछ हद तक
English Meaning - partially, somewhat, in part, relatively.

15.rival (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - प्रतिद्वंद्वी
English Meaning - competing, opposing, contending.

16.sweep (verb)

English Meaning - win a contest or election completely by a large margin; win decisively.

17.mar (verb)

English Meaning - spoil, ruin, damage, impair.

18.hold (verb)

English Meaning - contain or present as a characteristic, such as holding surprises; contain, present, offer, bring.

19.wrest (verb)

English Meaning - forcibly pull or take something away from someone’s control; seize, snatch, grab, extract.

20.defect (verb)

English Meaning - abandon one’s political party or cause in favour of an opposing one; desert, change sides, switch allegiance.

21.renominate (verb)

English Meaning - nominate someone again for an election or position; propose again, put forward again, field again, select again.

22.respectively (adverb)

English Meaning - separately or individually and in the order already mentioned; correspondingly, individually, severally, sequentially.

23.candidate (noun)

English Meaning - nominee, applicant, contender, aspirant.

24.percentage point (noun)

English Meaning - the unit used to express the arithmetic difference between two percentages; for example, if one candidate receives 40% of the votes and the rival receives 32%, the difference is 8 percentage points. However, the first candidate’s vote share is 25% higher than the rival’s (8 ÷ 32 × 100)

25.tend (verb)

English Meaning - be inclined, be apt, be likely, lean.

26.favour (verb)

English Meaning - give an advantage to someone or something; benefit, advantage, prefer, support.

27.in power (phrase)

English Meaning - in charge, in office, governing, commanding.

28.Representative (noun)

English Meaning - a person elected by the people of a constituency to represent their interests in the State Legislative Assembly and participate in lawmaking; elected representative, legislator, Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), constituency representative.

29.variance (noun)

English Meaning - difference, variation, discrepancy, divergence.

30.reflect (verb)

English Meaning - indicate, show, display, demonstrate.

31.nature (noun)

English Meaning - the basic or inherent features, character, or qualities of something; character, essence, attribute, quality.

32.vastly (adverb)

English Meaning - to a very great extent; immensely, hugely, enormously, tremendously.

33.different (adjective)

English Meaning - dissimilar, unalike, distinct, contrasting.

34.political culture (noun)

English Meaning - the shared beliefs, values, attitudes, and practices that shape how people understand politics, participate in elections, and relate to political institutions and leaders.

35.decade (noun)

English Meaning - a period of ten years; ten-year period.

36.work as (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - function as, act as, serve as, operate as.

37.winner-take-all (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to an electoral system in which the candidate or party with the most votes wins all the rewards or representation; absolute, total, decisive, all-or-nothing.

38.mandate (noun)

English Meaning - the authority to carry out a policy, regarded as given by the electorate to a party or candidate that wins an election; authority, approval, endorsement, authorization.

39.extend (verb)

English Meaning - stretch, spread, broaden, expand.

40.panchayat (noun)

English Meaning - a village council or local government body in rural India.

41.pattern (noun)

English Meaning - trend, tendency.

42.take shape (phrase)

English Meaning - emerge, form, materialize, evolve.

43.Left Front (noun)

English Meaning - an alliance of left-wing political parties in West Bengal, India.

44.entrenched (adjective)

English Meaning - established firmly so that it cannot be changed; ingrained, established, deep-rooted, fixed.

45.tenure (noun)

English Meaning - a period in an office; term, stint, incumbency, period in office.

46.so far (phrase)

English Meaning - up to this time; up to now, hitherto, thus far, to date.

47.far worse (phrase)

English Meaning - significantly more poor in quality or lower in standard; much poorer, extremely bad, vastly inferior, decidedly terrible.

48.Lok Sabha (noun)

English Meaning - the lower house of India’s bicameral Parliament, officially known as the House of the People.

49.however (adverb)

English Meaning - nevertheless, nonetheless, yet, though.

50.three-way (adjective)

English Meaning - involving three distinct participants, parties, or aspects; tripartite, three-sided, ternary, trilateral.

51.competitive (adjective)

English Meaning - fiercely contested, fought-over, closely matched, challenging.

52.tally (noun)

English Meaning - total, count, score, record.

53.House (noun)

English Meaning - a legislative assembly, here referring to the State Legislative Assembly.

54.sanctioned (adjective)

English Meaning - authorized, approved, permitted, allowed.

55.narrow (adjective)

English Meaning - small, marginal, slender, slight.

56.despite (preposition)

English Meaning - in spite of; notwithstanding, regardless of, in the face of, even with.

57.no-holds-barred (adjective)

English Meaning - free of restrictions or rules; unrestrained, uninhibited, all-out, fierce.

58.campaign (noun)

English Meaning - an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision-making process within a specific group; electioneering, canvassing, movement, drive.

59.suggest (verb)

English Meaning - indicate, imply, point to, signify.

60.expected (adjective)

English Meaning - regarded as likely; anticipated, predicted, awaited, foreseen.

61.honeymoon effect (noun)

English Meaning - a short period of goodwill and popularity enjoyed by a new government or political figure; initial popularity, post-election enthusiasm, grace period, initial goodwill.

62.materialise (verb)

English Meaning - happen, occur, come about, take place.

63.base (noun)

English Meaning - a group of people who support a political party; foundation, support base, core supporters, loyalists.

64.abrupt (adjective)

English Meaning - sudden and unexpected; sudden, unexpected, rapid, unforeseen.

65.deepen (verb)

English Meaning - intensify, worsen, exacerbate, compound.

66.face (verb)

English Meaning - confront and deal with or accept a difficult situation; confront, encounter, deal with, tackle.

67.sharper (adjective)

English Meaning - more intense, more acute.

68.hold on to (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - keep or retain something; retain, keep, maintain, preserve.

69.legislator (noun)

English Meaning - a person who makes laws as a member of a legislative body; lawmaker, parliamentarian, representative, assembly member.

70.regressive (adjective)

English Meaning - returning to a former or less developed state; backward, retrograde, negative, reverse.

71.turn (noun)

English Meaning - shift, change, trend, movement.

72.regressive turn (noun)

English Meaning - a shift towards backward-looking or less progressive policies, attitudes, or practices that undermine previous social, political, or cultural progress; backward shift, retrogressive change.

73.resign (verb)

English Meaning - voluntarily leave a job or other position; step down, quit, leave, vacate.

74.term (noun)

English Meaning - period, stint, duration, tenure.

75.The loaves and fishes (phrase)

English Meaning - material benefits, rewards, or personal advantages sought or obtained as an incentive for supporting a person, group, or cause, especially for political or personal gain; spoils of office, personal gain, material rewards, perks.

76.re-field (verb)

English Meaning - field a candidate again in an election; renominate, put forward again, field again, propose again.

77.spirit (noun)

English Meaning - the real meaning or the intention behind a law or agreement, as opposed to its strict literal interpretation; essence, intention, true meaning, purpose.

78.Anti-Defection Law (noun)

English Meaning - the legal provisions contained in the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India, inserted by the Constitution (Fifty-second Amendment) Act, 1985, to provide for the disqualification of members of Parliament and State Legislatures on grounds of defection. Under Paragraph 2(1)(a), a member is subject to disqualification for voluntarily giving up their membership of a political party; under Paragraph 2(1)(b), for voting or abstaining from voting contrary to a direction issued by their political party or a person or authority authorised by it, without prior permission, unless the action is condoned by the party, person, or authority concerned within 15 days of the voting or abstention.

79.override (verb)

English Meaning - overrule, cancel, overturn, nullify.

80.electorate (noun)

English Meaning - all the people in a country or area who are entitled to vote in an election; voters, voting public, electors, constituents.

81.manoeuvre (noun)

English Meaning - a carefully planned or cunning scheme or action; tactic, scheme, plot, stratagem.

82.concerned (adjective)

English Meaning - worried, anxious, troubled, distressed.

83.quality (noun)

English Meaning - standard, caliber, condition, level.

84.representation (noun)

English Meaning - the act or process of elected representatives speaking and acting on behalf of the people who elect them, reflecting their interests and concerns in legislative decision-making; political representation, elected representation, public representation, advocacy.