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.
Explanation
Annie Besant became the first woman president of the Indian National Congress at its Calcutta Session in 1917. The Congress's account of its former presidents also identifies her as its first woman president and records Calcutta, 1917. The chronology separates her Home Rule activities from her Congress presidency: she was a Congress delegate in 1914, explained her plan for a Home Rule League in 1915, intensified this work in 1916, and launched the League on 1 September 1916. She was interned at Ootacamund in June 1917, and the internment order was withdrawn after widespread protests. In August 1917, she was made president of the Calcutta Session. Thus, her Home Rule work expanded in 1916, while she became Congress president in 1917.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 1918 is incorrect because Annie Besant had already become Congress president at the Calcutta Session in 1917.
- (B) Her Home Rule work intensified in 1916 and the League began on 1 September, but she became president of the Calcutta Session in August 1917.
- (D) 1919 is incorrect because Motilal Nehru presided over the Amritsar Session that year, whereas Annie Besant had presided over the Calcutta Session in 1917.
Concept
This question tests the chronology of Modern Indian History. It requires linking the venues and presidents of Congress sessions with the Home Rule movement. RAS often asks about such year-based links because a phase of a movement, a Congress session and a leader's assumption of formal office can fall in different years.