When and where was the demand for "Purna Swaraj" or complete independence made by the Indian National Congress?
- (a)Bombay, 1885
- (b)Lahore, 1929
- (c)Kheda, 1917
- (d)Bombay, 1942
Correct — B, Lahore, 1929. At the Lahore session of the Indian National Congress in December 1929, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru on the banks of the Ravi, the Congress adopted the Purna Swaraj (complete independence) resolution. It also resolved to observe 26 January 1930 as the first Independence Day, making Lahore 1929 the moment complete independence became the Congress goal.
- (a)Bombay, 1885 — The first Congress session (Bombay, 1885) belonged to the moderate phase, which sought reforms within British rule, not complete independence.
- (c)Kheda, 1917 — Kheda (1917) was a peasant satyagraha in Gujarat, not a Congress session, and had nothing to do with the Purna Swaraj resolution.
- (d)Bombay, 1942 — The Bombay session of 1942 passed the Quit India ('Do or Die') resolution, which came thirteen years after the Purna Swaraj declaration.
The Congress goal shifted from dominion status to complete independence in 1929. When the Nehru Report's dominion-status offer was not accepted by the British by the end of 1929, the Lahore session adopted Purna Swaraj as the aim and launched the drive that led to the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930.
The trap is to link 'complete independence' to a dramatic event like Quit India (1942) or to the founding session (1885). The specific milestone is the Lahore session of December 1929, followed by the 26 January 1930 Independence Day pledge.
- The Purna Swaraj resolution was adopted at the Lahore Congress session, December 1929.
- Jawaharlal Nehru presided over the Lahore session.
- 26 January 1930 was observed as the first Independence Day.
- It followed the lapse of the Nehru Report's dominion-status demand and led to Civil Disobedience (1930).
- Linking 'complete independence' to Quit India (1942) instead of Lahore (1929).
- Confusing the Congress's founding session (Bombay, 1885) with the Purna Swaraj demand.
Asked by pairing a resolution with its session/year or by ordering the milestones of the freedom struggle.
Who among the following leaders proposed to adopt Complete Independence as the goal of the Congress in the Ahmedabad session of 1920?
- (a) Abul Kalam Azad
- (b) Hasrat Mohani
- (c) Jawaharlal Nehru
- (d) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Answer(b) Hasrat Mohani
Same theme — the demand for Complete Independence (Purna Swaraj); Hasrat Mohani raised it early, and it became Congress policy at Lahore in 1929.
In the year 1928, a committee of Congress leaders drafted a Constitution for India. The Committee was headed by
- (a) Mahatma Gandhi
- (b) T. B. Sapru
- (c) Motilal Nehru
- (d) Jawaharlal Nehru
Answer(c) Motilal Nehru
Directly connected — the Nehru Report (1928) sought dominion status; its non-acceptance led straight to the Purna Swaraj resolution at Lahore in 1929.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Indian National Congress resolved to observe the first Independence Day on
- (a)15 August 1929
- (b)26 January 1930
- (c)26 January 1950
- (d)2 October 1929
Answer(b) 26 January 1930 — pledged at the Lahore session.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Who presided over the 1929 Lahore session of the Indian National Congress?
- (a)Motilal Nehru
- (b)Jawaharlal Nehru
- (c)Subhas Chandra Bose
- (d)Mahatma Gandhi
Answer(b) Jawaharlal Nehru — under whom Purna Swaraj was adopted.