Correct answer: (c) Both 1 and 2 are correct
Explanation
- A
Only 1 is correct
Only 1 is correct would drop statement 2. Sukumar Sen was indeed the first Chief Election Commissioner, but V. S. Ramadevi (often styled Rama Devi in this paper) was also the first woman CEC. Both limbs are true, so ‘only 1’ is incomplete.
- B
Only 2 is correct
Only 2 is correct would drop statement 1. Ramadevi’s appointment as the first woman CEC does not cancel Sen’s status as the first CEC of independent India. Statement 1 is independently true, so this option fails.
- C
Both 1 and 2 are correct
(c) Official key: Both facts are correct. Sukumar Sen served as India’s first Chief Election Commissioner from 1950 and conducted the first two general elections. V. S. Ramadevi became the first woman Chief Election Commissioner in November 1990 (a short tenure before T. N. Seshan). Neither statement is a later invention, so both 1 and 2 stand.
- D
Both 1 and 2 are incorrect
Both incorrect would deny two well-recorded Election Commission facts. Sen’s first CEC tenure and Ramadevi’s first woman CEC tenure are standard constitutional history. This option therefore contradicts the record.
Summary. Official key is (c). Statement 1 is right: Sukumar Sen was India’s first Chief Election Commissioner after the Constitution. Statement 2 is also right: Rama Devi / V. S. Ramadevi was the first woman to hold that office. ‘Only 1’ or ‘only 2’ each discards a true limb. The keyed choice is therefore both statements correct.