Consider the following statements about Matsya Union’s Prime Minister Shobaram and choose the correct option from below : A. He left his legal profession during the Non-Cooperation Movement. B. He was the member of the Cabinet of Heeralal Shastri.

Correct — option (2), Only B is true.

Statement A is false. The Non-Cooperation Movement ran from 1920 to 1922, and the House of the People Who's Who (1952) gives Shobharam's birth date as 7 January 1914. He was a child then, not a practising lawyer.

He did give up the law, but in a later movement. B. L. Panagariya's Rajasthan Mein Swatantrata Sangram (Rajasthan Hindi Granth Academy) records that during the Quit India Movement in Alwar, Shobharam, Ramchandra Upadhyay, Kripa Dayal Mathur and other lawyers left their practice.

Statement B is true. Panagariya writes that when the Matsya Union merged into Rajasthan on 15 May 1949, its Prime Minister Shobharam was taken into the Shastri ministry, the cabinet of Heeralal Shastri.

The 1952 Who's Who lists him as Revenue Minister, Rajasthan, 1949–50.

A is false and B is true, so the code is option (2), Only B is true.

The idea to remember: Shobharam left the bar during Quit India, not Non-Cooperation, and joined Heeralal Shastri's cabinet in 1949.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Only A is true. — This code gets both statements the wrong way round. A is false: Shobharam, born in 1914, was a child during the Non-Cooperation Movement, and Panagariya places his leaving the law in the Quit India Movement.

  B is true: after Matsya merged into Rajasthan he joined the Shastri ministry. Only A would need a leader who left the law in 1920–22 and never served under Heeralal Shastri.

• (3)
  A and B both are true. — This code accepts A, and the dates rule A out. The Non-Cooperation Movement ended in 1922, when Shobharam was eight; he gave up his practice during the Quit India Movement.

  A and B both are true would be the answer if statement A had named the Quit India Movement instead.

• (4)
  A and B both are false. — This code rightly rejects A but also rejects B, which is true. Panagariya records that Shobharam was taken into the Shastri ministry when Matsya merged into Rajasthan.

  The 1952 Who's Who lists him as Revenue Minister, Rajasthan, 1949–50. Both false would need him to have stayed out of Heeralal Shastri's cabinet.

The Matsya Union joined four princely states, Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur and Karauli, into one state in March 1948, with its capital at Alwar and the Maharaj Rana of Dholpur as Rajpramukh.

Its popular ministry was led by Shobharam of the Alwar Praja Mandal. The Alwar District Gazetteer names Jugal Kishore, Bhola Nath, Gopilal Yadav, Mangal Singh and Chiranji Lal as his colleagues.

The union lasted about fourteen months. It merged into Rajasthan on 15 May 1949, and Shobharam moved into the state cabinet.

Key facts

• Shobharam was born on 7 January 1914, per the House of the People Who's Who (1952).
• He was President of the Alwar Rajya Praja Mandal in 1946, per the Alwar District Gazetteer.
• B. L. Panagariya records that he gave up legal practice during the Quit India Movement in Alwar.
• He headed the Matsya Union ministry in 1948–49; the union merged into Rajasthan on 15 May 1949.
• He then joined Heeralal Shastri's cabinet; the 1952 Who's Who lists him as Revenue Minister, Rajasthan, 1949–50.

Common traps

• Checking a movement against a birth year: a leader born in 1914 cannot have left a legal practice in 1920–22.
• Swapping movements: Shobharam left the bar during the Quit India Movement, not the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Mixing union heads: Shobharam led Matsya, while RPSC's 2013 key names Gokul Lal Asava for the United Rajasthan of 25 March 1948.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2023 and 2013 here once those papers are published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which princely states joined to form the Matsya Union in 1948?

  • (a)Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur and Karauli
  • (b)Alwar, Bharatpur, Jaipur and Karauli
  • (c)Bharatpur, Dholpur, Kota and Bundi
  • (d)Alwar, Dholpur, Karauli and Tonk
  Answer(1) — The Alwar District Gazetteer records that Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur and Karauli formed the United State of Matsya. Option (2) wrongly includes Jaipur, option (3) Kota and Bundi, and option (4) Tonk, none of which was part of Matsya.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  During which movement did Shobharam of Alwar give up his legal practice?

  • (a)Non-Cooperation Movement
  • (b)Civil Disobedience Movement
  • (c)Quit India Movement
  • (d)Swadeshi Movement
  Answer(3) — Panagariya records that Shobharam and other Alwar lawyers left their practice during the Quit India Movement. Option (1) ran 1920–22, when Shobharam (born 1914) was a child; option (4) began in 1905, before he was born; option (2), 1930–34, is not the movement Panagariya names.