Explanation:

Correct Answer is (c).“Slur” which means ‘insult’ and “glorious” which means ‘great’ are not appropriate for the respective blanks. Option A, thus, can be eliminated.
If honest politicians are available in “abundance”, then the country would not be in a “sad” state; which rules out option B. Similarly “lack” of honest politicians cannot be the reason for “progressive” state of the county. This rules out option D as well.
In option E, “sparse” will not be the grammatically correct choice for the first blank and thus can be eliminated too.
Option C is apt as both the words fill in the blanks in a logically and grammatically correct way. “Shortage” means ‘a lack of’ and “miserable” means ‘wretchedly poor or unhappy’.
Option C is hence the correct answer.