RAS question
Which of the following is NOT a Moderate leader of the Indian National Congress?
Correct answer: (B) Lala Lajpat Rai.
Lala Lajpat Rai was not a Moderate leader of the Indian National Congress; he belonged to the extremist leadership associated with the Lal Bal Pal trio.
Explanation
Lala Lajpat Rai is the odd one out among these Congress leaders because he was not a Moderate. The official Amrit Kaal record describes the extremist leadership as comprising Lala Lajpat Rai, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal, and identifies this trio as Lal Bal Pal. Rai was an Extremist leader, not a Moderate Congress leader. The distinction matters because the Moderates and Extremists represented different strands within the national movement. Pherozeshah Mehta, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Dadabhai Naoroji are linked to the Moderate tradition, while Lala Lajpat Rai is linked to the assertive extremist current.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Pherozeshah Mehta was a leading Moderate leader from Bombay, so he does not fit the non-Moderate category.
- (C) Gopal Krishna Gokhale was one of the most important Moderate leaders, so he does not fit the non-Moderate category.
- (D) Dadabhai Naoroji was a prominent Moderate leader of the Congress, so he does not fit the non-Moderate category.
Concept
The Moderate-Extremist split in the Indian National Congress is central to classifying major nationalist leaders. RAS frequently uses leader-group matching as a standard Modern Indian History pattern.