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RAS question

The Cripps Mission (1942) was rejected by Congress primarily because:

Correct answer: (A) It offered only post-war dominion status and allowed provinces to secede.

Congress rejected the Cripps Mission because it offered India dominion status only after the war and allowed any province that refused the new Constitution to remain outside the Indian Union.

  1. (A)

    It offered only post-war dominion status and allowed provinces to secede

  2. (B)

    It abolished Congress

  3. (C)

    It demanded Congress join the war

  4. (D)

    It gave power only to Muslim League

Explanation

The Cripps proposal, taken to India by Sir Stafford Cripps in 1942, promised a new Indian Union with dominion status, but only after the cessation of hostilities. It also proposed an elected constitution-making body after the war and required Britain to accept the Constitution it framed. The crucial weakness for Congress was the provincial opt-out clause: any province not prepared to accept the new Constitution could retain its existing constitutional position, with scope for a separate arrangement later. That made the offer look delayed and potentially fragmentary rather than a clear transfer of power to a united India. Gandhi's description of it as a 'post-dated cheque on a crashing bank' captured this objection. Both Congress and the League rejected the mission.

Why the other options are wrong

  • (B) The proposal did not abolish Congress; instead, it invited the immediate participation of leaders of the principal sections of Indian public life.
  • (C) The offer did seek Indian cooperation in the war effort, but Congress's central objection was the delayed dominion status and the provincial opt-out clause, not a direct demand that Congress join the war.
  • (D) The proposal did not transfer power only to the Muslim League; it spoke of Indian leaders, provincial legislatures, Indian States, and a constitution-making body rather than League-only authority.

Concept

The nationalist response to British constitutional offers during the Second World War centered on immediate transfer of power, unity, and safeguards against partition. The Cripps Mission linked wartime politics, the demand for immediate transfer of power, and the constitutional roots of partition debates.

Source

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