AI-generated practice question — model-generated for extra practice, not a previous-year CBSE board question.
(A) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
Political parties are a necessary condition for representative democracy. They aggregate opinions, mobilise voters, form governments, and link citizens to the state — functions no other institution performs.
The textbook explicitly states: "We can say that parties are a necessary condition for a democracy." The Reason correctly explains why — parties aggregate diverse views into policy positions, mobilise voters through elections, and form the structured link between government and governed (as listed in the Functions section). Since R directly and correctly explains A, option (A) is the right choice. Avoid (B), which is used when both statements are true but the reason does not logically explain the assertion.