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RAS question

Annie Besant became the first woman president of the Indian National Congress in which year?

Correct answer: (C) 1917.

Annie Besant became the first woman president of the Indian National Congress at its Calcutta Session in 1917.

  1. (A)

    1918

  2. (B)

    1916

  3. (C)

    1917

  4. (D)

    1919

Explanation

Annie Besant's presidency is tied to the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress in 1917. The INC's own profile describes her as the first female President of the Indian National Congress and identifies the entry as Calcutta, 1917. The chronology is important: in 1916 her Home Rule work intensified, in June 1917 she was interned at Ootacamund, and after wide protest the internment order was withdrawn; in August 1917, she was made President of the Calcutta Session. That is why 1917, not the surrounding Home Rule years, is the correct year.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (A) 1918 is too late, because Annie Besant's Congress presidency was at the Calcutta Session in 1917.
  • (B) 1916 marks the intensification of her Home Rule work, but she became President of the Calcutta Session only in August 1917.
  • (D) 1919 is not Annie Besant's presidency year; the Amritsar session that year was associated with Motilal Nehru, while Besant's session was Calcutta, 1917.

Concept

This tests Modern Indian History chronology: INC sessions, venues and presidents. RAS repeatedly uses such links because one year can separate a movement phase, a session, and a leader's formal office.

Source

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