Before Droupadi Murmu, India had only one other female president, Pratibha Patil. When did Patil serve as the President of India?

Question

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
For early postcolonial literature, the world of the novel was often the nation. Postcolonial novels were usually [concerned with] national questions. Sometimes the whole story of the novel was taken as an allegory of the nation, whether India or Tanzania. This was important for supporting anti-colonial nationalism, but could also be limiting - land-focused and inward looking.
My new book "Writing Ocean Worlds" explores another kind of world of the novel: not the village or nation, but the Indian Ocean world. The book describes a set of novels in which the Indian Ocean is at the centre of the story. It focuses on the novelists Amitav Ghosh, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Lindsey Collen and Joseph Conrad [who have] centred the Indian Ocean world in the majority of their novels. . . Their work reveals a world that is outward-looking full of movement, border-crossing and south-south interconnection. They are all very different - from colonially inclined (Conrad) to radically anti-capitalist (Collen), but together draw on and shape a wider sense of Indian Ocean space through themes, images, metaphors and language. This has the effect of remapping the world in the reader's mind, as centred in the interconnected global south. ... The Indian Ocean world is a term used to describe the very long-lasting connections among the coasts of East Africa, the Arab coasts, and South and East Asia.
These connections were made possible by the geography of the Indian Ocean. For much of history, travel by sea was much easier than by land, which meant that port cities very far apart were often more easily connected to each other than to much closer inland cities. Historical and archaeological evidence suggests that what we now call globalisation first appeared in the Indian Ocean. This is the interconnected oceanic world referenced and produced by the novels in my book. For their part Ghosh, Gurnah, Collen and even Conrad reference a different set of histories and geographies than the ones most commonly found in fiction in English. Those [commonly found ones] are mostly centred in Europe or the US, assume a background of Christianity and whiteness, and mention places like Paris and New York. The novels in [my] book highlight instead a largely Islamic space, feature characters of colour and centralise the ports of Malindi, Mombasa, Aden, Java and Bombay. . . . It is a densely imagined, richly sensory image of a southern cosmopolitan culture which provides for an enlarged sense of place in the world.
This remapping is particularly powerful for the representation of Africa. In the fiction, sailors and travellers are not all European. . . African, as well as Indian and Arab characters, are traders, nakhodas (dhow ship captains), runaways, villains, missionaries and activists. This does not mean that Indian Ocean Africa is romanticised. Migration is often a matter of force; travel is portrayed as abandonment rather than adventure, freedoms are kept from women and slavery is rife. What it does mean is that the African part of the Indian Ocean world plays an active role in its long, rich history and therefore in that of the wider world.

Answer 1

A good way to answer this is to first ask what each wrong option's years actually belong to, rather than only checking the right one.

2005-2010: These years were part of Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's presidency, since his term ran from 2002 to 2007.
2006-2011: This span does not belong to any single President; it overlaps the tail of Kalam's term and the start of Patil's, so it is not a real presidential term at all.
2012-2017: These years belong to Pranab Mukherjee, who took charge right after Patil finished her term.
2007-2012: Once the other three are placed correctly, this is the only stretch left, and it is exactly when Pratibha Patil served as India's 12th President and first woman President.

The correct answer is 2007-2012.

Answer 2

Instead of checking all four ranges in detail, split them into two groups using one known fact: Patil succeeded Kalam, and Kalam's term ran until 2007.

Group with a start year before 2007 (2005-2010 and 2006-2011): both would require Patil to have taken office while Kalam was still President, which is not possible, so both are ruled out immediately.
Group with a start year of 2007 or later (2007-2012 and 2012-2017): only these two are worth checking further.
2012-2017: This is when Mukherjee held office, right after Patil, so it cannot be Patil's own term.
2007-2012: This is the one term left standing, and it correctly matches when Patil served, right after Kalam and right before Mukherjee.

The correct answer is 2007-2012.

Answer 3

Instead of checking all four ranges in detail, split them into two groups using one known fact: Patil succeeded Kalam, and Kalam's term ran until 2007.

Group with a start year before 2007 (2005-2010 and 2006-2011): both would require Patil to have taken office while Kalam was still President, which is not possible, so both are ruled out immediately.
Group with a start year of 2007 or later (2007-2012 and 2012-2017): only these two are worth checking further.
2012-2017: This is when Mukherjee held office, right after Patil, so it cannot be Patil's own term.
2007-2012: This is the one term left standing, and it correctly matches when Patil served, right after Kalam and right before Mukherjee.

The correct answer is 2007-2012.

Answer 4

It helps to first work out what each wrong option actually connects to in Murmu's career.

Odisha: This is where her political career began and where she was an MLA and minister, but that was a legislative role, not a governorship.
Bihar and West Bengal: Neither state features anywhere in her political record, so both can be set aside straightaway.
Jharkhand: This is the state where she actually served as Governor, from 2015 to 2021, right before she was elected President.

Once Odisha is correctly identified as her home state rather than her governorship, and Bihar and West Bengal are ruled out for having no connection at all, Jharkhand is what remains.

The correct answer is Jharkhand.

Answer 5

Split the four options into two groups: the state Murmu is from, and the states she might have governed.

Home-state option (Odisha): This is ruled out for being her native state and the base of her early political career, not a governorship.
Unconnected options (Bihar, West Bengal): Both have no link to her career and can be dropped without further checking.
Remaining option (Jharkhand): This is the state where she was appointed Governor in 2015, serving nearly six years before moving to the presidency.

Working through it this way still lands on the same state.

So the correct answer is Jharkhand.

Answer 6

Split the four options into two groups: the state Murmu is from, and the states she might have governed.

Home-state option (Odisha): This is ruled out for being her native state and the base of her early political career, not a governorship.
Unconnected options (Bihar, West Bengal): Both have no link to her career and can be dropped without further checking.
Remaining option (Jharkhand): This is the state where she was appointed Governor in 2015, serving nearly six years before moving to the presidency.

Working through it this way still lands on the same state.

So the correct answer is Jharkhand.

Answer 7

It helps to ask what actually happened in each of the other years instead of only defending 1952.

1948: India was still governed under transitional arrangements before its own Constitution, so there was no system in place to elect a President.
1949: The Constitution was adopted on 26 November this year, but it only came into force later, so the election machinery still did not exist.
1950: The Constitution took effect in January, and Rajendra Prasad became President, but through a provisional process, not a general-election-based electoral college, since elections had not been held yet.
1952: This is when the country's first general elections were completed, giving the electoral college its members, and the first true presidential election followed that same year.

The correct answer is 1952.

Answer 8

Group the four years by whether the Constitution was even in force yet.

Before the Constitution took effect (1948, 1949): Both years come before January 1950, when the Constitution of India came into force, so a constitutional presidential election could not have happened in either year.
After the Constitution took effect (1950, 1952): Only these two years remain possible.
1950: The Constitution had just started, but the electoral college needing elected MPs and MLAs did not exist yet, since general elections had not been held.
1952: By this year, the 1951-52 general elections had filled Parliament and the state assemblies, completing the electoral college, so the first presidential election could finally take place.

So the correct answer is 1952.

Answer 9

Group the four years by whether the Constitution was even in force yet.

Before the Constitution took effect (1948, 1949): Both years come before January 1950, when the Constitution of India came into force, so a constitutional presidential election could not have happened in either year.
After the Constitution took effect (1950, 1952): Only these two years remain possible.
1950: The Constitution had just started, but the electoral college needing elected MPs and MLAs did not exist yet, since general elections had not been held.
1952: By this year, the 1951-52 general elections had filled Parliament and the state assemblies, completing the electoral college, so the first presidential election could finally take place.

So the correct answer is 1952.

Answer 10

Each wrong option here is a real place, just not the right one, so it helps to place each correctly first.

Raisina Palace: This name belongs to Delhi, to the site chosen for the Viceroy's new residence after 1911, which is today's Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Secretariat Building and Writers' Building: Both are Calcutta landmarks, but they housed government offices and clerks, not the Governor General's household.
Belvedere House: This was the actual Calcutta residence of the Governor General, used right up until the capital shifted to Delhi in 1911.

Since Calcutta was the capital until 1911, the Governor General's home during that period was Belvedere House, not any of the Delhi or office buildings listed.

The correct answer is Belvedere House.

Answer 11

Sort the four options by city and by type of building, residence or office.

Delhi-linked option (Raisina Palace): Since the question asks about the period before the capital moved to Delhi, any Delhi-linked name is automatically the wrong period.
Calcutta office buildings (Secretariat Building, Writers' Building): Both are in the right city but the wrong category, since they were offices, not a residence.
Calcutta residence (Belvedere House): This is both in the right city and the right category, a residence, matching what the question is actually asking for.

Filtering by city first, then by residence versus office, leaves only one answer.

So the correct answer is Belvedere House.

Answer 12

Sort the four options by city and by type of building, residence or office.

Delhi-linked option (Raisina Palace): Since the question asks about the period before the capital moved to Delhi, any Delhi-linked name is automatically the wrong period.
Calcutta office buildings (Secretariat Building, Writers' Building): Both are in the right city but the wrong category, since they were offices, not a residence.
Calcutta residence (Belvedere House): This is both in the right city and the right category, a residence, matching what the question is actually asking for.

Filtering by city first, then by residence versus office, leaves only one answer.

So the correct answer is Belvedere House.

Answer 13

Each of the other names is tied to a real position, just not the 2022 Vice Presidential race.

R. Venkataraman: His actual link is to the Vice Presidency of the 1980s, well before this election.
Yashwant Sinha: His actual 2022 link is the Presidential contest, where he stood against Droupadi Murmu, not the Vice Presidential one.
M. Venkaiah Naidu: His link to 2022 is that he was the outgoing Vice President whose term was ending, not a person contesting a new election.
Margaret Alva: She is the one name whose actual 2022 link is being a candidate, standing as the united Opposition's nominee for Vice President against Jagdeep Dhankhar.

The correct answer is Margaret Alva.

Answer 14

Filter the names first by year, then by office.

Wrong year (R. Venkataraman): His Vice Presidency belongs to the 1980s, so he drops out immediately on the year alone.
Right year, wrong office (Yashwant Sinha, M. Venkaiah Naidu): Both are 2022 figures, but Sinha's contest was for President, and Naidu was the outgoing Vice President rather than a contestant, so neither fits "candidate for Vice President in 2022."
Right year, right office (Margaret Alva): She matches on both counts, the year 2022 and the specific role of a Vice Presidential candidate.

So the correct answer is Margaret Alva.

Answer 15

Filter the names first by year, then by office.

Wrong year (R. Venkataraman): His Vice Presidency belongs to the 1980s, so he drops out immediately on the year alone.
Right year, wrong office (Yashwant Sinha, M. Venkaiah Naidu): Both are 2022 figures, but Sinha's contest was for President, and Naidu was the outgoing Vice President rather than a contestant, so neither fits "candidate for Vice President in 2022."
Right year, right office (Margaret Alva): She matches on both counts, the year 2022 and the specific role of a Vice Presidential candidate.

So the correct answer is Margaret Alva.

Answer 16

It helps to know what "first-past-the-post" and "open ballot" actually mean and where they are used, then check if either applies here.

First-past-the-post: This is the system used in India's Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, where the candidate with the most votes in a constituency simply wins. That is not how the President is chosen, so any option built on first-past-the-post is wrong.
Open ballot: This would mean electors publicly declare their preference, the way a show of hands works in some legislative votes. Presidential electors do not do this; they mark preferences privately.
What actually happens: MPs and MLAs rank the candidates by preference under the single transferable vote method, a proportional representation technique, and they do this by secret ballot so their choice cannot be tracked or pressured.

Since neither first-past-the-post nor an open ballot describes the real process, the option combining proportional representation with a secret ballot is the one that fits.

The correct answer is a proportional representation system through a single transferable vote cast in a secret ballot.

Answer 17

Narrow this down in two separate passes instead of judging all four options at once.

First pass, the method: Two options use first-past-the-post and two use proportional representation. Since presidential electors rank candidates by preference under a single transferable vote rather than each simply picking one winner, the two first-past-the-post options are dropped, leaving only the proportional representation ones.
Second pass, the ballot: Of the two remaining, one has a secret ballot and one has an open ballot. Presidential electors vote in secret specifically so they are free from party pressure, which rules out the open-ballot option.
What is left: proportional representation through a single transferable vote in a secret ballot, matching both passes.

So the correct answer is a proportional representation system through a single transferable vote cast in a secret ballot.

Answer 18

Narrow this down in two separate passes instead of judging all four options at once.

First pass, the method: Two options use first-past-the-post and two use proportional representation. Since presidential electors rank candidates by preference under a single transferable vote rather than each simply picking one winner, the two first-past-the-post options are dropped, leaving only the proportional representation ones.
Second pass, the ballot: Of the two remaining, one has a secret ballot and one has an open ballot. Presidential electors vote in secret specifically so they are free from party pressure, which rules out the open-ballot option.
What is left: proportional representation through a single transferable vote in a secret ballot, matching both passes.

So the correct answer is a proportional representation system through a single transferable vote cast in a secret ballot.

Answer 19

This question is easy to get wrong because of one common mix-up, so it helps to sort that out directly.

Ram Nath Kovind: Many people assume he was the first Dalit President since his term is more recent, from 2017 to 2022, but he was actually the second.
V.V. Giri and Neelam Sanjiva Reddy: Both are genuine former Presidents, from the 1970s and late 1970s to early 1980s respectively, but neither belonged to a Scheduled Caste community, so neither fits the question at all.
Kocheril Raman Narayanan: His term, 1997 to 2002, came two decades before Kovind's, and he was the first person from a Dalit community to become President.

Once the Kovind mix-up is cleared up, Narayanan is the only name that actually fits "first."

The correct answer is Kocheril Raman Narayanan.

Answer 20

Group the four names by era first, then check background within each group.

1970s-80s Presidents (V.V. Giri, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy): Both are from this earlier era, but neither has a Scheduled Caste background, so this whole group is ruled out on background alone.
Recent Presidents (Kocheril Raman Narayanan, Ram Nath Kovind): Both do belong to a Dalit community, so the question comes down to which of these two came first.
Ordering within the group: Narayanan's term ran from 1997 to 2002, well before Kovind's term of 2017 to 2022, which makes Narayanan the first of the two.

So the correct answer is Kocheril Raman Narayanan.

Answer 21

Group the four names by era first, then check background within each group.

1970s-80s Presidents (V.V. Giri, Neelam Sanjiva Reddy): Both are from this earlier era, but neither has a Scheduled Caste background, so this whole group is ruled out on background alone.
Recent Presidents (Kocheril Raman Narayanan, Ram Nath Kovind): Both do belong to a Dalit community, so the question comes down to which of these two came first.
Ordering within the group: Narayanan's term ran from 1997 to 2002, well before Kovind's term of 2017 to 2022, which makes Narayanan the first of the two.

So the correct answer is Kocheril Raman Narayanan.

Before Droupadi Murmu, India had only one other female president, Pratibha Patil. When did Patil serve as the President of India?

Show Hint

The Correct Option is A

Approach Solution - 1

Approach Solution -2

President Murmu has earlier served as a Governor of which State?

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The Correct Option is C

Approach Solution - 1

Approach Solution -2

The first presidential election was held by the Election Commission in which year?

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The Correct Option is A

Approach Solution - 1

Approach Solution -2

The Rashtrapati Bhavan was formerly known as the Viceroy’s Palace (during colonial times). Where did the Governor General reside before the transfer of the British capital to Delhi in 1911?

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The Correct Option is A

Approach Solution - 1

Approach Solution -2

Who among the following was a candidate in the elections for the Vice President of India in 2022?

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The Correct Option is D

Approach Solution - 1

Approach Solution -2

Voting in an Indian Presidential Election is through:

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The Correct Option is B

Approach Solution - 1

Approach Solution -2

Who was the first Dalit to hold the office of the President of India?

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The Correct Option is D

Approach Solution - 1

Approach Solution -2

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