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UPSC Prelims 2026 GS Paper 1, question 18

Topic: Modern history and freedom struggle

Q18

Consider the following assertion :

The genesis of political alliances based on community lay in the very nature of the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms, 1919.

Which of the following statements support/supports the above assertion ?

  1. Reforms retained and extended the principle of separate electorates.

  2. Separate electorates were supposed to counter Indian nationalism, which was growing stronger.

  3. Deprived classes rallied around the favours inherent in separate electorates.

Select the answer using the code given below :

  1. (a) 1 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 2 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3Correct answer

Solution.

Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3

  1. Statement 1 is correct: the Government of India Act, 1919 (Montague-Chelmsford Reforms) retained separate electorates for Muslims and extended them to Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, and Europeans.
  2. Statement 2 is correct: the colonial administration used separate electorates and communal representation as a 'divide and rule' counterweight against the rising Indian national movement.
  3. Statement 3 is correct: institutionalizing communal quotas and reserved patronage encouraged non-Brahmin and deprived community groups to organize politically around statutory concessions.