Q26 (IAS/2015) History & Culture › National Movement (1857–1947) › Nationalist organisations Official Key

With reference to Congress Socialist Party, consider the following statements : 1. It advocated the boycott of British goods and evasion of taxes. 2. It wanted to establish the dictatorship of proletariat. 3. It advocated separate electorate for minorities and oppressed classes. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Result

Your answer: — · Correct: D

Explanation

The Congress Socialist Party advocated the boycott of British goods[2] and evasion of taxes, making Statement 1 correct. It wanted to establish the dictatorship of proletariat[3], making Statement 2 correct. However, Statement 3 is incorrect. The Congress Socialist Party, formed in 1934 as a left-wing group within the Indian National Congress, was committed to socialist ideals and mass mobilization but did not advocate separate electorates. In fact, the Congress as a whole was opposed to separate electorates, which were seen as divisive and contrary to the goal of national unity. The demand for separate electorates was associated with other political formations, not the Congress Socialist Party. Therefore, only statements 1 and 2 are correct, making option A the right answer.

Sources

[1] https://abhipedia.abhimanu.com/Article/IAS/NzE5NzgEEQQVV/-With-reference-to-Congress-Socialist-Party-consider-the-following-statements-1-It-advocated-th-Modern-Indian-History-
[2] https://abhipedia.abhimanu.com/Article/IAS/NzE5NzgEEQQVV/-With-reference-to-Congress-Socialist-Party-consider-the-following-statements-1-It-advocated-th-Modern-Indian-History-
[3] https://abhipedia.abhimanu.com/Article/IAS/NzE5NzgEEQQVV/-With-reference-to-Congress-Socialist-Party-consider-the-following-statements-1-It-advocated-th-Modern-Indian-History-

How others answered

Each bar shows the % of students who chose that option. Green bar = correct answer, blue outline = your choice.

Community Performance

Out of everyone who attempted this question.

40%

got it right

Web / Current Affairs

Online pages / news items supporting the statement

Web source

Presence: 5/5

"It advocated the boycott of British goods and evasion of taxes."

Why this source?

Directly states the Congress Socialist Party advocated the boycott of British goods.
Pairs the boycott claim with evasion of taxes, indicating explicit advocacy of economic non-cooperation.

Web source

Presence: 5/5

"It advocated the boycott of British goods and evasion of taxes."

Why this source?

Repeats the exact claim that the party advocated boycotting British goods.
Independent source restates the same position, reinforcing the assertion.

Web source

Presence: 5/5

"It advocated the boycott of British goods and evasion of taxes."

Why this source?

Contains the same statement associating the Congress Socialist Party with boycott of British goods.
Used in a comparative question format, indicating common attribution of this advocacy to the party.

Indirect textbook clues (5)

How books hint at the answer

Politics in India since Independence, Textbook in political science for Class XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 2: Era of One-party Dominance > Communist victory in Kerala > p. 34

Strength: 4/5

“The origins of the Socialist Party can be traced back to the mass movement stage of the Indian National Congress in the pre-independence era. The Congress Socialist party (CSP) was formed within the Congress in 1934 by a group of young leaders who wanted a more radical and egalitarian Congress. In 1948, the Congress amended its constitution to prevent its members from having a dual party membership. This forced the Socialists to form a separate Socialist Party in 1948. The Party's electoral performance caused much disappointment to its supporters. Although the Party had presence in most of the states of India, it could achieve electoral success only in a few pockets.”

Why relevant

Shows the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) formed within the Congress as a group wanting a more radical and egalitarian Congress, indicating ideological proximity to more activist tactics.

How to extend

A student could combine this with knowledge that radical Congress factions often supported Swadeshi/boycott campaigns to judge whether CSP might have adopted similar tactics.

THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART III, History CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 12: FRAMING THE CONSTITUTION > p. 319

Strength: 3/5

“Congress swept the general seats in the provincial elections, and the Muslim League captured most of the reserved Muslim seats. But the League chose to boycott the Constituent Assembly, pressing its demand for Pakistan with a separate constitution. The Socialists too were initially unwilling to join, for they believed the Constituent Assembly was a creation of the British, and therefore incapable of being truly autonomous. In effect, therefore, 82 per cent of the members of the Constituent Assembly were also members of the Congress. The Congress however was not a party with one voice. Its members differed in their opinion on critical issues.”

Why relevant

Notes that Socialists were initially unwilling to join the Constituent Assembly because they viewed it as a British creation, implying a principled opposition to British-established institutions.

How to extend

One could infer that such anti-British institutional stance may align with economic protest methods (e.g., boycotts) used by other anti-British groups, and check historical records for CSP actions.

India and the Contemporary World – II. History-Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: Nationalism in India > To the altar of this revolution we have brought our youth as incense' > p. 42

Strength: 4/5

“The industrial working classes did not participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement in large numbers, except in the Nagpur region. As the industrialists came closer to the Congress, workers stayed aloof. But in spite of that, some workers did participate in the Civil Disobedience Movement, selectively adopting some of the ideas of the Gandhian programme, like boycott of foreign goods, as part of their own movements against low wages and poor working conditions. There were strikes by railway workers in 1930 and dockworkers in 1932. In 1930 thousands of workers in Chotanagpur tin mines wore Gandhi caps and participated in protest rallies and boycott campaigns.”

Why relevant

Describes that some workers participating in Civil Disobedience selectively adopted Gandhian programmes like the boycott of foreign goods as part of broader anti-colonial protest.

How to extend

A student could use this pattern—that diverse groups within the freedom movement adopted boycotts—to assess whether a radical subgroup like the CSP likely endorsed such measures.

Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 12: Era of Militant Nationalism (1905-1909) > The Extremist Programme > p. 264

Strength: 4/5

“Emboldened by Dadabhai Naoroji's declaration at the Calcutta session (1906) that self-government or swaraj was to be the goal of the Congress, the Extremists gave a call for passive resistance in addition to swadeshi and boycott which would include a boycott of government schools and colleges, government service, courts, legislative councils, municipalities, government titles, etc. The purpose, as Aurobindo put it, was to "make the administration under present conditions impossible by an organised refusal to do anything which will help either the British commerce in the exploitation of the country or British officialdom in the administration of it". The militant nationalists tried to transform the antipartition and Swadeshi Movement into a mass struggle and”

Why relevant

Explains that militant nationalists added boycott (including boycott of government institutions and commerce) to their programme to make British administration/commercial exploitation difficult.

How to extend

Since the CSP emerged as a more radical faction within Congress, a student could extend this pattern to hypothesize CSP sympathy for or adoption of boycott tactics and then seek direct evidence.

India and the Contemporary World – II. History-Class X . NCERT(Revised ed 2025) > Chapter 2: Nationalism in India > 2.1 The Movement in the Towns > p. 34

Strength: 3/5

“In many places merchants and traders refused to trade in foreign goods or finance foreign trade. As the boycott movement spread, and people began discarding imported clothes and wearing only Indian ones, production of Indian textile mills and handlooms went up. But this movement in the cities gradually slowed down for a variety of reasons. Khadi cloth was often more expensive than massproduced mill cloth and poor people could not afford to buy it. How then could they boycott mill cloth for too long? Similarly the boycott of British institutions posed a problem. For the movement to be successful, alternative Indian institutions had to be set up so that they could be used in place of the British ones.”

Why relevant

Gives a general pattern of boycott: merchants refused foreign goods and urban boycott led to increased indigenous production, but had practical limits—showing boycott was a common tactic with contingency.

How to extend

A student could use this operational description to evaluate whether the CSP, given its social base and goals, would realistically promote or rely on boycotts.

Consider the following statements : 1. The growth of socialist tendency in the national movement led to the foundation of the Congress Socialist Party in 1934 under the leadership of Acharya Narendra Deva and Jayaprakash Narayan. 2. In 1936, Jawaharlal Nehru urged the Congress to accept socialism as its goal and to bring itself closer to the peasantry and the working class. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Which one of the following statements about the moderate leaders of the Indian National Congress is not correct ?

Consider the following statements in respect of the Non-Cooperation Movement : I. The Congress declared the attainment of 'Swaraj' by all legitimate and peaceful means to be its objective. II. It was to be implemented in stages with civil disobedience and non-payment of taxes for the next stage only if 'Swaraj' did not come within a year and the Government resorted to repression. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

With reference to the British colonial rule in India, consider the following statements : 1. Mahatma Gandhi was instrumental in the abolition of the system of 'indentured labour'. 2. In Lord Chelmsford's War Conference', Mahatma Gandhi did not support the resolution on recruiting Indians for World War. 3. Consequent upon the breaking of Salt Law by Indian people, the Indian National Congress was declared illegal by the colonial rulers. Which of the statements given above are correct?

Consider the following statements : The Non-Cooperation Movement led to the I. Congress becoming a mass movement for the first time. II. growth of Hindu-Muslim unity. III. removal of fear of the British ‘might’ from the minds of the people. IV. British government’s willingness to grant political concessions to Indians. Of these statements

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Explanation

PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN

SIMILAR QUESTIONS

Which one of the following statements about the moderate leaders of the Indian National Congress is not correct ?