Statement 1: Dehydration of aldol takes place by the following mechanism.Statement 2: It is due to acidity of α - H and stability of conjugated double bond

Aldehydes and ketones having at least one α-hydrogen undergo a reaction in the presence of dilute alkali as catalyst to form β-hydroxy aldehydes(aldol) or β-hydroxy ketones(ketol) which readily lose water to give α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds.