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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The demand for the Tebhaga Peasant Movement in Bengal was for
Answer (a) & explanation
Reducing the landlord's share from half to one-third is correct (a). In the Tebhaga movement (1946–47) in Bengal, led by the Bengal Provincial Kisan Sabha (linked to the Communist Party), sharecroppers (bargadars) demanded that the jotedar's share of the crop be cut from half to one-third; 'tebhaga' means 'three shares'. The movement drew on the Floud Commission's recommendation (1940). (b), (c) and (d) are wrong: ownership of land, abolition of zamindari and writing off debts were not the core demand.
Notice the legacy: the demand was partly met by the Bargadars Act (1950), and later by Operation Barga (1978) in West Bengal, which registered sharecroppers. Other peasant risings of the 1940s include Telangana (1946–51) and Warli (1945). Trap: tebhaga is about the share, not ownership.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The people of India agitated against the arrival of Simon Commission because
Answer (c) & explanation
There was no Indian member is correct (c). The Simon Commission, appointed in November 1927 to review the 1919 Act, had seven British MPs under Sir John Simon, including Clement Attlee, and no Indian member. Indians saw this as an insult to their right to decide their own constitution and greeted it with 'Simon, Go Back' protests when it arrived in February 1928. (a) is wrong: Indians wanted reforms reviewed, just with Indian voices. (b) and (d) are wrong: its report came in 1930, after the protests, and did not suggest partition.
Notice the consequences: Lala Lajpat Rai died after a police lathi charge in Lahore (1928), and Indians answered with the Nehru Report (1928). The commission's report fed into the 1935 Act, which abolished provincial dyarchy. Trap: (b) is a real recommendation but not the cause of protest.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Annie Besant was
- 1. responsible for starting the Home Rule Movement
- 2. the founder of the Theosophical Society
- 3. once the President of the Indian National Congress
Select the correct statement/statements using the codes given below.
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 1 and 3 are correct (c). Annie Besant started the Home Rule League in September 1916 at Madras, alongside Tilak's league at Poona earlier that year (1). She was President of the Indian National Congress at the Calcutta session of 1917, the first woman to hold the post (3). Statement 2 is wrong: the Theosophical Society was founded in New York in 1875 by Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott; Besant joined in 1889 and later led it from Adyar, Madras. So (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Notice her other work: the Central Hindu College at Varanasi (1898), which grew into Banaras Hindu University, and the newspapers New India and Commonweal. Trap: leading a society is not founding it.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Mahatma Gandhi undertook fast unto death in 1932, mainly because
Answer (c) & explanation
The Communal Award is correct (c). In August 1932, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald announced the Communal Award, giving separate electorates to the Depressed Classes. Gandhi saw this as splitting Hindu society and began a fast unto death in Yerwada jail on 20 September 1932. It ended with the Poona Pact (24 September 1932) between Gandhi and Ambedkar: separate electorates were dropped, and reserved seats within joint electorates rose from 71 to 148. (a) and (b) were not the trigger. (d) fails because (c) is correct.
Notice the follow-up: Gandhi founded the Harijan Sevak Sangh (1932) and the weekly 'Harijan' (1933). Trap: the Round Table failure was real but did not cause the fast.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Rowlatt Act aimed at
Answer (b) & explanation
Imprisonment without trial is correct (b). The Rowlatt Act (March 1919), based on the Sedition Committee under Justice S.A.T. Rowlatt, let the government jail suspects without trial for up to two years and try cases in special courts with no appeal. Indians summed it up as 'no vakil, no dalil, no appeal'. (a) is wrong: it did not deal with war contributions. (c) is wrong: the Khilafat movement began later, in 1919–20. (d) is wrong: press curbs came under the Press Act, 1910.
Notice what followed: Gandhi's Rowlatt Satyagraha (April 1919), his first all-India campaign, and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre on 13 April 1919 in Amritsar under General Dyer. The Hunter Committee inquired into it. Trap: the Act was nicknamed the 'Black Act'.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress (1929) is very important in history, because
- 1. the Congress passed a resolution demanding complete independence
- 2. the rift between the extremists and moderates was resolved in that Session
- 3. a resolution was passed rejecting the two-nation theory in that Session
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer (a) & explanation
Statement 1 only is correct (a). At the Lahore session (December 1929), presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress passed the Purna Swaraj (complete independence) resolution (1), hoisted the tricolour on the banks of the Ravi, and fixed 26 January 1930 as Independence Day. Statement 2 is wrong: the moderate–extremist rift was healed at Lucknow in 1916. Statement 3 is wrong: the two-nation theory was not on the agenda in 1929. So (b), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice the follow-up: the session authorised civil disobedience, which began with the Dandi March (12 March 1930). The Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950 to honour that date. Trap: 1916 Lucknow is famous for two unities: Congress factions and the Congress–League pact.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
The Congress ministries resigned in the seven provinces in 1939, because
Answer (d) & explanation
None of the statements is correct (d). In October 1939 the Congress ministries resigned in protest because the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, had declared India a party to the Second World War without consulting Indian leaders, and the British would not promise independence after the war. (a) is wrong: the Congress had ministries in 8 of 11 provinces and its resignation was not about the others. (b) is wrong: the left wing did not cause it. (c) is wrong: communal riots were not the reason.
Notice what followed: the Muslim League celebrated 22 December 1939 as 'Day of Deliverance', the August Offer (1940) and Individual Satyagraha (Vinoba Bhave first) came next. Trap: 'seven provinces' in the question is UPSC's wording; the usual count is eight.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following is/are the principal feature(s) of the Government of India Act, 1919?
- 1. Introduction of dyarchy in the executive government of the provinces
- 2. Introduction of separate communal electorates for Muslims
- 3. Devolution of legislative authority by the centre to the provinces
Select the correct answer using the codes given below :
Answer (c) & explanation
Statements 1 and 3 are correct (c). The Government of India Act, 1919 (Montagu–Chelmsford reforms) introduced dyarchy in the provinces, dividing subjects into transferred (handled by ministers responsible to the legislature) and reserved (kept by the Governor) (1). It also separated central and provincial subjects, devolving legislative authority to the provinces (3). Statement 2 is wrong: separate electorates for Muslims came earlier, with the Morley–Minto reforms of 1909; the 1919 Act extended them to Sikhs, Indian Christians and others. So (a), (b) and (d) fail.
Notice the other features: a bicameral central legislature, direct elections on a limited franchise, and a provision for a statutory commission after ten years, which became the Simon Commission (1927). Trap: 1919 extended communal electorates but did not introduce them.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which of the following parties were established by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar?
- 1. The Peasants and Workers Party of India
- 2. All India Scheduled Castes Federation
- 3. The Independent Labour Party
Select the correct answer using the codes given below :
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (b). Dr B.R. Ambedkar founded the Independent Labour Party (1936), which won seats in the 1937 Bombay elections (3), and the All India Scheduled Castes Federation (1942) (2). He also planned the Republican Party of India, founded after his death in 1957. Statement 1 is wrong: the Peasants and Workers Party of India (1947, Maharashtra) was founded by Keshavrao Jedhe, Shankarrao More and others who broke away from the Congress. So (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice his other work: the Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha (1924), the Mahad Satyagraha (1927), the newspaper 'Mooknayak' (1920), and his conversion to Buddhism on 14 October 1956 at Nagpur. Trap: the PWP was a Maharashtra party of the same era.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Which one of the following observations is *not* true about the Quit India Movement of 1942 ?
Answer (b) & explanation
It was led by Mahatma Gandhi is the observation 'not true' per UPSC's key (b). Gandhi gave the 'Do or Die' call at Gowalia Tank on 8 August 1942, but he and the whole Congress leadership were arrested the next morning (Operation Zero Hour). The movement then ran leaderless and spontaneous, so (c) is true. (a) is arguable: it began as a non-violent call, though it later saw sabotage and violence. (d) is true in UPSC's view: the organised labour class largely stayed away, partly because the Communists opposed it after the USSR joined the war.
Notice the leaders who stepped in: Aruna Asaf Ali hoisted the flag, Usha Mehta ran Congress Radio, and parallel governments rose in Ballia, Tamluk and Satara.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to Indian freedom struggle, Usha Mehta is well-known for
Answer (a) & explanation
Running the secret Congress Radio is correct (a). During the Quit India Movement (1942), the 22-year-old Usha Mehta ran the underground Congress Radio from Bombay from 14 August 1942, broadcasting news and speeches the British censored, until she was arrested in November 1942 and jailed. (b) is wrong: she did not attend the Second Round Table Conference (1931). (c) is wrong: the INA's Rani of Jhansi Regiment was led by Lakshmi Sahgal. (d) is wrong: she had no role in the 1946 Interim Government.
Notice her honour: she received the Padma Vibhushan in 1998. The 2024 film 'Ae Watan Mere Watan' retold her story. Other underground leaders included Ram Manohar Lohia, who helped the radio, and Aruna Asaf Ali.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
What was the reason for Mahatma Gandhi to organize a satyagraha on behalf of the peasants of Kheda ?
- 1. The Administration did not suspend the land revenue collection in spite of a drought.
- 2. The Administration proposed to introduce Permanent Settlement in Gujarat.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?
Answer (a) & explanation
Statement 1 only is correct (a). In Kheda (1918), Gujarat, crops failed, and under the revenue rules collection should have been suspended when the yield fell below a quarter of normal. The government still demanded full land revenue, so Gandhi, with Vallabhbhai Patel, Indulal Yagnik and others, led a no-tax satyagraha. Statement 2 is wrong: there was no plan to introduce the Permanent Settlement in Gujarat, which had the ryotwari system. So (b), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice Gandhi's early trio: Champaran (1917) against indigo planters, the Ahmedabad mill strike (1918), where he first fasted, and Kheda (1918). Patel's fame grew later at Bardoli (1928), which earned him the title 'Sardar'.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
Mahatma Gandhi said that some of his deepest convictions were reflected in a book titled, “Unto this Last” and the book transformed his life. What was the message from the book that transformed Mahatma Gandhi ?
Answer (b) & explanation
The good of the individual is contained in the good of all is correct (b). Gandhi read John Ruskin's 'Unto This Last' on a train journey in 1904 and drew three lessons: the good of the individual is in the good of all; a lawyer's work has the same value as a barber's; and a life of labour is the life worth living. He set up the Phoenix Settlement near Durban and later paraphrased the book in Gujarati as 'Sarvodaya'. (a) and (c) are not the book's message, so (d) fails too.
Notice the other influences: Tolstoy's 'The Kingdom of God Is Within You' (Tolstoy Farm, 1910) and Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience'. Trap: celibacy and service sound Gandhian but come from other sources.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.
With reference to the period of Indian freedom struggle, which of the following was/were recommended by the Nehru report ?
- 1. Complete Independence for India.
- 2. Joint electorates for reservation of seats for minorities.
- 3. Provision of fundamental rights for the people of India in the Constitution.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below :
Answer (b) & explanation
Statements 2 and 3 are correct (b). The Nehru Report (1928), drafted by a committee under Motilal Nehru in reply to the all-white Simon Commission, proposed joint electorates with reserved seats for minorities (2) and a list of fundamental rights (3). Statement 1 is wrong: it asked for dominion status, not complete independence, which upset younger leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Bose. So (a), (c) and (d) fail.
Notice what followed: Jinnah's Fourteen Points (1929) rejected the report, and the Lahore Congress (December 1929) adopted Purna Swaraj, celebrated on 26 January 1930. The report also proposed linguistic provinces and universal adult franchise. Trap: 'complete independence' came a year later, not in the report.
Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.