RAS question
The Poona Pact (1932) was an agreement between Gandhi and:
Correct answer: (D) B.R. Ambedkar.
The Poona Pact of 24 September 1932 was an agreement between Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Explanation
The Poona Pact was reached on 24 September 1932 between Gandhiji and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Its immediate background was Ramsay MacDonald's Communal Award, under which several communities, including the Depressed Classes, were to get separate electorates. The Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment says Gandhiji opposed this arrangement and that Ambedkar and Gandhiji then arrived at the understanding known as the Poona Pact. The pact dispensed with separate electorates and provided reservations for the Depressed Classes within the political framework; reserved seats increased from 71 to 148 under joint electorates. That is why the agreement is remembered as Gandhi-Ambedkar, not as an agreement with the British Prime Minister or a Viceroy.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Muhammad Ali Jinnah was not a party to the Poona Pact, which was the Gandhi-Ambedkar understanding on Depressed Classes representation.
- (B) Ramsay MacDonald announced the Communal Award that formed the background to the dispute, but the pact itself was the understanding reached between Gandhiji and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
- (C) Lord Irwin is not connected with the Poona Pact; the Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment names Gandhiji and Dr. Ambedkar as reaching the understanding.
Concept
This tests Modern Indian History through constitutional politics, especially representation, separate electorates and social justice before independence. RAS repeatedly asks such pact-and-person questions because they link national movement chronology with later constitutional safeguards.