Which of the following statements about the Unionist Party is/are correct? 1. It was a political party representing the interests of landholders in Punjab. 2. It was opposed to the idea of the partition of India as India and Pakistan. Select the correct answer using the code given below.
- (a)1 only
- (b)2 only
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Correct — C, Both 1 and 2. The Unionist Party was built on the interests of Punjab's landed gentry and landlords, and it drew that base from all three communities — its majority was Muslim, but a large number of Hindus and Sikhs also supported and sat in it. On partition it took the opposing side: its leader Khizr Hayat Tiwana, who depended on Hindu and Sikh support, was against dividing India on religious lines and refused the Muslim League's demand to remake the party in its image. The party did not survive the partition of Punjab in 1947.
- (a)1 only — It gets the landholding base right but denies statement 2, whereas the Unionist leadership actively resisted a partition on religious lines and was pushed aside by the Muslim League for doing so.
- (b)2 only — It concedes the stand on partition but denies the party's defining feature — the Unionist Party existed precisely to represent Punjab's large landholding and agriculturist interests.
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2 — Both descriptions fit the Unionist Party, so rejecting both cannot be right.
The Unionist Party dominated Punjab politics between the two World Wars. It was a cross-communal party of the province's landowning classes rather than a communal party, and it formed the provincial ministry after the elections held under the provincial autonomy introduced by the Government of India Act, 1935. Its decline in the 1940s cleared the way for the Muslim League in Punjab and, with it, for partition.
Students misread statement 1 because the Unionist Party is filed mentally as a 'Muslim' party. Its Muslim majority was real, but the organising principle was class and land, not religion, which is exactly why Hindu Jat leaders such as Chhotu Ram were central to it. Statement 2 follows from the same logic — a party resting on Hindu and Sikh votes as well as Muslim ones had every reason to resist a division of the province on religious lines.
- The Unionist Party represented the landed gentry and landlords of Punjab and was cross-communal, with Muslim, Hindu and Sikh members.
- In the 1937 Punjab election it won 98 of 175 seats, taking 78 Muslim seats against the Muslim League's two.
- Sikandar Hayat Khan was Premier of Punjab from 1937 to 1942, and Khizr Hayat Tiwana succeeded him; Fazl-i-Husain and Chhotu Ram were among its founding figures.
- Tiwana opposed the division of India on a religious basis and refused the Muslim League's demand to rename the party; the Unionist Party dissolved after Punjab was partitioned in 1947.
Both statements hold, so the answer is (c) Both 1 and 2.
- Reading 'Muslim-majority membership' as 'communal party' and rejecting the cross-communal, land-based description.
- Assuming every Muslim-led provincial party of the 1940s supported the Pakistan demand.
A two-statement item on a regional party — one statement tests its social base, the other its stand on partition.
Consider the following statements: The Government of India Act, 1935 provided for 1. The provincial autonomy 2. The establishment of Federal Court 3. All India Federation at the centre. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a) 1 and 2
- (b) 2 and 3
- (c) 1 and 3
- (d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer(d) 1, 2 and 3
The provincial autonomy created by the 1935 Act is the framework under which the Unionist Party formed and ran the Punjab ministry.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Who was the Premier of Punjab from the Unionist Party between 1937 and 1942?
- (a)Khizr Hayat Tiwana
- (b)Sikandar Hayat Khan
- (c)Chhotu Ram
- (d)Fazl-i-Husain
Answer(b) Sikandar Hayat Khan — Khizr Hayat Tiwana succeeded him as the Unionist Premier.
- practice — not a real PYQ
In the Punjab provincial election of 1937, which party won the largest number of seats?
- (a)Indian National Congress
- (b)All-India Muslim League
- (c)Unionist Party
- (d)Akali Dal
Answer(c) Unionist Party — it won 98 of 175 seats, against two Muslim seats for the Muslim League.