Gandhian era to Independence; constitutional development: previous-year questions
54 real UPSC Prelims questions (2011–2026) with the official answer and a clear explanation. 13 of them came in the last five papers.
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Which one of the following is a very significant aspect of the Champaran Satyagraha ?
Answer (c) & explanation
Champaran joined peasant unrest to the national movement (c). In 1917, at the request of Raj Kumar Shukla, Gandhi went to Champaran in Bihar, where European planters forced peasants under the tinkathia system to grow indigo on 3/20 of their land. His inquiry led to the Champaran Agrarian Act (1918), which ended the system. It was his first civil disobedience in India. Option (a) is wrong because it was a local struggle, not an all-India movement. Option (b) is wrong because Dalits and tribals were not its focus. Option (d) is wrong because it caused no drastic fall in commercial crops; synthetic dyes had already weakened indigo.
Notice who joined Gandhi: Rajendra Prasad, J.B. Kripalani, Mazharul Haq and Anugraha Narayan Sinha.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Who among the following were the founders of the “Hind Mazdoor Sabha” established in 1948 ?
Answer (d) & explanation
Option (d) names the founders. The Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) was founded in 1948 by socialists who would not join the communist-led AITUC or the Congress-backed INTUC (1947). Its founders included Ashok Mehta, T.S. Ramanujam, G.G. Mehta, Basawan Singh and R.S. Ruikar, its first president. Option (a) lists Kerala communist leaders. Option (b) wrongly includes Deen Dayal Upadhyay, of the Jana Sangh, and M.N. Roy, a radical humanist. Option (c) mixes C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer (Dewan of Travancore), K. Kamaraj (Congress) and Veeresalingam, a 19th-century social reformer.
Notice the timeline: AITUC (1920), with Lala Lajpat Rai as first president, came first. The BMS (1955) of the RSS family is now India's largest union.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In 1920, which of the following changed its name to “Swarajya Sabha” ?
Answer (a) & explanation
The All India Home Rule League became the Swarajya Sabha (a). Annie Besant founded the All India Home Rule League in September 1916, a few months after Tilak's league in Belgaum. In 1920 the league elected Gandhi as president, and he renamed it the Swarajya Sabha and merged it into the Congress for Non-Cooperation. Moderates such as Jinnah left in protest. The Hindu Mahasabha (b) kept its name. The South Indian Liberal Federation (c), or Justice Party, later became the Dravidar Kazhagam (1944). Gokhale's Servants of India Society (d) of 1905 never changed its name.
Do not confuse it with the Swaraj Party of C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru (1923), which contested council elections.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Consider the following events :
- 1. The first democratically elected communist party government formed in a State in India.
- 2. India’s then largest bank, ‘Imperial Bank of India’, was renamed ‘State Bank of India’.
- 3. Air India was nationalised and became the national carrier.
- 4. Goa became a part of independent India.
Which of the following is the correct chronological sequence of the above events ?
Answer (b) & explanation
The order is 3-2-1-4 (b). Air India was nationalised under the Air Corporations Act, 1953, which created Air India International and Indian Airlines. The Imperial Bank of India became the State Bank of India on 1 July 1955, following the Gorwala Committee (All-India Rural Credit Survey). India's first elected communist government came to power in Kerala in 1957, under E.M.S. Namboodiripad. Goa was freed from Portugal by Operation Vijay in December 1961. So 1953, 1955, 1957, 1961.
The Kerala ministry was dismissed under Article 356 in 1959, after the "Liberation Struggle". Notice the reversal of history: Air India was sold back to the Tata group in 2022, and it later merged with Vistara (2024).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In the Federation established by The Government of India Act of 1935, residuary powers were given to the
Answer (b) & explanation
The Governor-General held the residuary powers (b). The Government of India Act, 1935 split subjects into three lists: Federal (59 items), Provincial (54) and Concurrent (36). Residuary powers, covering subjects in none of the lists, went to neither the Federal Legislature (a) nor the Provincial Legislature (c). The Governor-General decided, at his discretion, which level could legislate on them, under Section 104. Provincial Governors (d) did not hold them.
Under today's Constitution, residuary power lies with Parliament (Article 248 and Entry 97 of the Union List), following the Canadian model. Notice the 1935 Act's other features: provincial autonomy, dyarchy at the Centre, a Federal Court (1937), and the RBI (1935).
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Trade Disputes Act of 1929 provided for
Answer (d) & explanation
The 1929 Act brought tribunals and a ban on some strikes (d). The Trade Disputes Act, 1929 set up courts of inquiry and boards of conciliation for industrial disputes. It banned strikes in public utility services without notice, and any strike meant to pressure the government. It did not give workers a role in management (a), it did not give management arbitrary powers (b), and it did not provide for British courts to intervene (c).
It came with the Public Safety Ordinance and the Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929), as the government cracked down on a labour movement growing under communist influence after the 1928 strikes in Bombay. Notice the earlier milestone: the Trade Unions Act, 1926 gave unions legal recognition.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The object of the Butler Committee of 1927 was to
Answer (d) & explanation
The Butler Committee was about relations between the Government of India and the princely states (d). The Indian States Committee under Sir Harcourt Butler (1927–29) looked into ties between the paramount power and the princely states. The princes hoped it would limit British interference. Instead it said paramountcy must remain supreme and could change with the times. It also said a state could not be handed to an elected Indian government without its own consent. It did not define Centre–province powers (a), which belonged to the Simon Commission's work. It did not deal with the Secretary of State (b) or press censorship (c).
The Chamber of Princes (1921) was the princes' forum. Notice how this consent principle later helped the princes resist the 1935 federation plan.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
In the context of Indian history, the principle of ‘Dyarchy (diarchy)’ refers to
Answer (d) & explanation
Dyarchy split the subjects given to the provinces into two groups (d). The Government of India Act, 1919 brought dyarchy to the provinces. Provincial subjects were divided into reserved subjects, such as police, justice, land revenue and irrigation, which stayed with the Governor and his executive council. Transferred subjects, such as education, health, local government and agriculture, went to Indian ministers answerable to the legislature. Option (a) describes bicameralism, a separate change made by the same Act. Options (b) and (c) are not what dyarchy meant.
Dyarchy failed because ministers had no control over money. The 1935 Act ended it in the provinces and moved it to the Centre, but that part was never put into effect. Notice that the term comes from Lionel Curtis.
The 1919 Act also made the central legislature bicameral, so (a) sounds familiar. That was a different change, not dyarchy.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Indian freedom struggle, consider the following events :
- 1. Mutiny in Royal Indian Navy
- 2. Quit India Movement launched
- 3. Second Round Table Conference
What is the correct chronological sequence of the above events ?
Answer (c) & explanation
The order is 3-2-1 (c). The Second Round Table Conference sat in London from September to December 1931. Gandhi attended as Congress's only representative after the Gandhi–Irwin Pact, and he came back empty-handed. Quit India was launched on 8 August 1942 at Gowalia Tank, Bombay, with the call "Do or Die". The Royal Indian Navy mutiny broke out at Bombay on 18 February 1946, starting on HMIS Talwar. Any other order (a, b, d) is wrong.
The RIN mutiny, along with the INA trials (Red Fort, 1945), convinced Britain it could no longer count on Indian forces. Notice what came next: the Cabinet Mission arrived in March 1946.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Montague-Chelmsford Proposals were related to
Answer (d) & explanation
The Montagu-Chelmsford proposals were constitutional reforms (d). Secretary of State Edwin Montagu's August 1917 declaration promised a step-by-step move towards responsible government. His 1918 report with Viceroy Lord Chelmsford led to the Government of India Act, 1919. It brought dyarchy in the provinces, with subjects split into transferred and reserved, a two-house central legislature, and wider separate electorates, including for Sikhs. It was not mainly about social reform (a), education (b), or police administration (c), even though education became a transferred subject.
Congress rejected the reforms as disappointing, and the Rowlatt Act came soon after. Notice the chain that followed: the Simon Commission (1927) reviewed the 1919 Act, and that led to the 1935 Act.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The plan of Sir Stafford Cripps envisaged that after the Second World War
Answer (d) & explanation
Cripps promised Dominion status after the war (d). The Cripps Mission (March 1942) came when Japan was advancing in Asia. It offered Dominion status after the war, with the right to leave the Commonwealth. It also offered an elected constitution-making body, with provinces and princely states free to stay out. It did not offer complete independence (a). It did not propose partition outright (b), though the opt-out idea pointed that way. It did not offer a republic tied to the Commonwealth (c).
Gandhi called it a "post-dated cheque". Congress rejected it because defence stayed with the British and the opt-out threatened unity, and the League rejected it too. Notice what came next: the Quit India resolution, five months later in August 1942.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Government of India Act of 1919 clearly defined
Answer (b) & explanation
The Government of India Act, 1919 clearly defined the jurisdiction of the central and provincial governments (b). Its Devolution Rules split subjects into central and provincial lists, loosening central control over the provinces. Provincial subjects were further split into reserved and transferred under dyarchy. It did not set out a separation of powers between judiciary and legislature (a), and the powers of the Secretary of State and Viceroy (c) were not its defining feature, so (d) also fails.
The Act followed the Montagu–Chelmsford reforms. Notice how it also brought bicameralism at the Centre.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Who of the following organized a march on the Tanjore coast to break the Salt Law in April 1930?
Answer (b) & explanation
C. Rajagopalachari led a salt march from Trichinopoly to Vedaranyam on the Tanjore coast in April 1930, the southern counterpart of Gandhi's Dandi March (b). V. O. Chidambaram Pillai (a) founded the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company in 1906 and was jailed long before 1930. K. Kamaraj (c) was a younger Congress leader at the time, and Annie Besant (d) led the Home Rule League, not this march.
Other salt marches were led by K. Kelappan in Malabar and Gopabandhu Choudhury in Odisha. Notice how salt, used by everyone, made civil disobedience truly all-India.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the Cabinet Mission, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1. It recommended a federal government.
- 2. It enlarged the powers of the Indian courts.
- 3. It provided for more Indians in the ICS.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (a) & explanation
Only statement 1 is correct (a). The Cabinet Mission (1946), of Pethick-Lawrence, Stafford Cripps and A. V. Alexander, proposed a loose federal Union of provinces and princely states. The Centre would hold only defence, foreign affairs and communications; the provinces would be grouped into sections A, B and C; and a Constituent Assembly and an interim government would be formed. It said nothing about enlarging court powers (2) or adding Indians to the ICS (3).
The Muslim League's rejection and its Direct Action Day (August 1946) followed. Notice how the Mission's failure made Partition almost certain.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Rowlatt Satyagraha, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- 1. The Rowlatt Act was based on the recommendations of the ‘Sedition Committee’.
- 2. In Rowlatt Satyagraha, Gandhiji tried to utilize the Home Rule League.
- 3. Demonstrations against the arrival of Simon Commission coincided with Rowlatt Satyagraha.
Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 1 and 2 are correct (b). The Rowlatt Act (March 1919) came from Justice Rowlatt's Sedition Committee and allowed detention without trial. Gandhi formed a Satyagraha Sabha and drew on the Home Rule Leagues for an all-India hartal in April 1919. Statement 3 is wrong: the Simon Commission arrived in 1928, nine years later.
The Rowlatt Satyagraha was Gandhi's first all-India movement. Its sad climax was the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 13 April 1919 in Amritsar. Notice how the anger it created paved the way for the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1920.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Congress Socialist Party, consider the following statements :
- 1. It advocated the boycott of British goods and evasion of taxes.
- 2. It wanted to establish the dictatorship of proletariat.
- 3. It advocated separate electorate for minorities and oppressed classes.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (d) & explanation
None of the statements is correct (d). The Congress Socialist Party (1934) of Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev and Minoo Masani worked inside the Congress to push it towards socialism: land to the tiller, rights for workers and peasants, and nationalisation of key industries. It did not seek a dictatorship of the proletariat, the communist goal (2), or separate electorates for minorities (3), which nationalists opposed. Boycott and tax evasion (1) were not its distinct programme.
Notice how the CSP gave the Congress a left wing, and how JP later led the 1974 movement against the Emergency-era government.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Radcliffe Committee was appointed to
Answer (c) & explanation
Sir Cyril Radcliffe chaired the two Boundary Commissions, for Punjab and for Bengal, set up under the Mountbatten Plan to delimit the boundary between India and Pakistan (c). He had never visited India before and drew the lines in about five weeks using old maps and census data. The award was published on 17 August 1947, two days after independence.
The other options do not fit: minorities (a) and the Independence Bill (b) were political matters, and riots in East Bengal (d) were not his brief. Notice how the hurried line explains much of the later displacement and the Kashmir and Bengal border questions.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The 1929 Session of Indian National Congress is of significance in the history of the Freedom Movement because the
Answer (b) & explanation
At the Lahore session of December 1929, under Jawaharlal Nehru's presidency, the Congress adopted Purna Swaraj (complete independence) as its goal (b). It hoisted the tricolour on the banks of the Ravi on 31 December and fixed 26 January 1930 as Independence Day. Option (a) is wrong: self-government had been the goal much earlier. Non-Cooperation (c) began in 1920, and the Congress boycotted, not joined, the first Round Table Conference (d).
The session also authorised civil disobedience, launched with the Dandi March in 1930. Notice how 26 January later became Republic Day in honour of this pledge.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Indian History, the Members of the Constituent Assembly from the Provinces were
Answer (c) & explanation
Elected by the Provincial Legislative Assemblies is correct (c). Under the Cabinet Mission Plan (1946), the provincial members of the Constituent Assembly were indirectly elected by the members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies through proportional representation by single transferable vote. Seats were roughly one per million population, divided among Muslims, Sikhs and General. (a) is wrong: there was no direct election. (b) is wrong: parties did not nominate members. (d) is wrong: the government did not select experts. Members from the princely states were nominated by the rulers.
Notice the numbers: the Assembly had 389 members (292 provinces, 93 princely states, 4 chief commissioners' provinces), reduced to 299 after Partition. It first met on 9 December 1946. Trap: 'directly elected' sounds democratic but was not the method.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Quit India Movement was launched in response to
Answer (b) & explanation
Cripps Proposals is correct (b). The Cripps Mission (March–April 1942) offered India dominion status after the war, a constituent assembly, and the right of provinces to stay out, but nothing substantial at once. Gandhi called it a 'post-dated cheque'. Its failure convinced Congress that Britain would not part with power, and the Quit India resolution followed on 8 August 1942. (a) is wrong: the Cabinet Mission came in 1946. (c) is wrong: the Simon Commission reported in 1930. (d) is wrong: the Wavell Plan and Simla Conference came in 1945.
Notice the context: Japan's advance to Burma made Britain seek Indian support, and Stafford Cripps was a Labour minister sympathetic to India. Trap: order the events: Cripps 1942, Quit India 1942, Wavell 1945, Cabinet Mission 1946.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.