1. “A graduate at 18, professor and associate editor of the Sudharak at 20, Secretary of the Sarvajanik Sabha and of the Provincial Conference at 25, Secretary of the National Congress at 29, a leading witness before an important Royal Commission at 31, Provincial legislator at 34, Imperial legislator at 36, President of the Indian National Congress at 39. a patriot whom Mahatma Gandhi himself regarded as his master”. This is how a biographer describes:
(a) Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya
(b) Mahadev Govind Ranade
(c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
(d) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
[I.A.S. (Pre) 1997]
Ans. (c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
- Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born on May 9, 1866, in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.
- At 18, he graduated from Elphinston College in 1884 and was appointed a professor of Economics and History at Ferguson College in Poona.
- Gokhale was a protege of social reformer Mahadev Govind Ranade and a member of the Deccan Education Society.
- He campaigned for common Indians to have more influence over political decisions.
- He joined the Congress in 1888 at the Allahabad session, then later became a member of the Bombay Legislative Council and Imperial Legislative Council.
- Mahatma Gandhi often referred to Gokhale as a ‘Political Guru’.
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2. Gopal Krishna Gokhale presided over the session of Congress in –
(a) 1902
(b) 1905
(c) 1906
(d) 1909
[U.P. Lower Sub. (Pre) 2004, U.P. Lower Sub. (Pre) 2003]
Ans. (b) 1905
- Gopal Krishna Gokhale was in charge of the Indian National Congress meeting in Benaras in 1905.
- He also started the Servants of India Society in the same year.
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4. Who among the following never presided over a Session of the Indian National Congress?
(a) Lala Lajpat Rai
(b) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
(d) Subhash Chandra Bose
[U.P.P.C.S. (Pre.) 2021]
Ans (b) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak never led an Indian National Congress meeting.
- Gopal Krishna Gokhale was the president of the Banaras sesson of the 1905 Congress.
- Subashchandra Bose was the president of the 1938 and 1939 meetings and Lala Lajpat Rai was the president of the 1920 special Congress meeting.
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5. In which year did Gopal Krishna Gokhale founded ‘The Servants of India Society?
(a) 1902
(b) 1903
(c) 1904
(d) 1905
[U.P.P.C.S. (Pre) 2017]
Ans. (d) 1905
- Gopal Krishna Gokhale started the ‘Servants of India Society’ in 1905.
- This society gave us some great social workers including U. Shrinivas Shashtri, G.K. Devdhar, N.M. Joshi, Pandit Hridyanath Kunjru, M.C. Setlavad, B.N. Rao, and Anadi Krishna Swamy Ayar.
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6. Which of the following leaders presided over the Congress Session at Calcutta in 1906?
(a) B.G. Tilak
(b) G.K. Gokhale
(c) Aurobindo Ghosh
(d) Dadabhai Naoroji
[44th B.P.S.C. (Pre) 2000]
Ans. (d) Dadabhai Naoroji
- In 1906, Congress was in serious trouble of splitting up into two separate groups.
- The extremists had more support than the moderates.
- The moderates were smart and chose Dadabhai Naoroji to be the leader of Congress.
- He was respected by both sides.
- At this meeting, the goal of Swaraj was adopted by the Indian people, but the moderates adjusted the resolution to mean obtaining self-governing British colonies.
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8. Swaraj as a national demand was first made by:
(a) B.G.Tilak
(b) C.R.Das
(c) Dadabhai Naoroji
(d) Mahatma Gandhi
[Uttarakhand P.C.S. (Pre) 2002]
Ans. (c) Dadabhai Naoroji
- Dadabhai Naoroji talked about Swaraj (self-rule) as the aim of the Congress in its Calcutta meeting in 1906 in his Presidential speech.
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9. In which of the following sessions of the Indian National Congress, the word ‘Swaraj’ was uttered for the first time?
(a) Benaras Session, 1905
(b) Calcutta Session, 1906
(c) Surat Session, 1907
(d) None of the above
[U.P.P.C.S. (Pre) 2014]
Ans. (b) Calcutta Session, 1906
- At the Calcutta Congress session in December 1906, Naoroji declared self-government or Swaraj as the goal of the INC.
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10. The first leader to use the word ‘Swaraj’ was:
(a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(b) Lala Lajpat Rai
(c) S.C. Bose
(d) Mahatma Gandhi
[U.P.R.O./A.R.O. (Mains) 2013]
Ans. (a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak famously said, “I have the right to freedom, and I will get it”.
- However, the word “Swaraj” was first used by Dayanand Saraswati.
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11. Dadabhai Naroji was formally known as:
(a) Punjab Kesari
(b) Gujarat Ratna
(c) Guru Dev
(d) Grand Old Man of India
[U.P. P.C.S. (Pre) 1991]
Ans. (d) Grand Old Man of India
- Dadabhai Naoroji, also known as the Grand Old Man of India, was an influential Parsi teacher, political and social leader.
- He was the first Asian to be elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal party member from the Finsbury constituency in the UK in 1892.
- He was the President of the Indian National Congress in 1886, 1893, and 1906.
- C.Y. Chintamani, a famous Indian journalist and politician, described Dadabhai Naoroji as the most intelligent and selfless leader of his time.
- Gokhale praised him by saying that if there is a God, he is Dadabhai Naoroji.
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15. Which one of the following statements is not correct about Dadabhai Naoroji?
(a) He wrote a book ‘Poverty and Un-British Rule in India.’
(b) He worked as a Professor of Gujarati at the University College, London
(c) He laid the foundation of woman’s education in Bombay
(d) He was elected as a member of the British Parliament on the ticket of the Conservative Party
[U.P. Lower Sub. (Pre) 2008]
Ans. (d) He was elected as a member of the British Parliament on the ticket of the Conservative Party
- Dadabhai Naoroji was picked to join the British Parliament for the Liberal Party, so statement (d) is wrong.
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16. In which year the book ‘Poverty and Un British Rule in India’ was published?
(a) 1900 A.D.
(b) 1901 A.D.
(c) 1902 A.D.
(d) 1903 A.D.
[U.P.P.C.S. (Pre.) 2021]
Ans (b) 1901 A.D.
- Dadabhai Naoroji wrote a book called Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, which was released in 1901.
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17. Which one of the following statements is not correct about Dadabhai Naoroji?
(a) He was the first Indian to be appointed as a Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Elphinstone College, Bombay.
(b) He was elected as a member of the British Parliament in 1892.
(c) He started a Gujarati Journal, ‘Rast Goftar.’
(d) For four times he had presided over the Indian National Congress.
[U.P.P.C.S. (Pre) 2014]
Ans. (d) For four times he had presided over the Indian National Congress.
- Dadabhai Naoroji presided over the INC three times: 1886 (Calcutta) 1893 (Lahore) 1906 (Calcutta – when the Swaraj Resolution was passed).
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20. Where did the Indian Congress got divided into two wings moderates and extremists?
(a) Surat Session, 1907
(b) Lahore Session, 1909
(c) Calcutta Session, 1911
(d) Karachi Session, 1913
[U.P.P.C.S. (Mains) 2012]
Ans. (a) Surat Session, 1907
- The Indian National Congress was set up in 1885 and split into two sides in 1907, the extremists led by Lala Lajpat Rai and the moderates led by Ras Bihari Ghosh.
- Ghosh became the President. This split was caused by four resolutions (Indigenous (Swadeshi), Boycot, National Education and self-Rule) that were accepted in 1906, where the extremists wanted to keep them going but the moderates disagreed.
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21. The President of the Surat Session of the Indian National Congress (1907) was :
(a) Dadabhai Naoroji
(b) Bal Gangadhar Tilak
(c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale
(d) R.B. Ghosh
[U.P. U.D.A./L.D.A. (Pre) 2010, U.P.P.C.S. (Mains) 2007]
Ans. (d) R.B. Ghosh
- The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 and in 1907 it was split into two groups, the extremists led by Lala Lajpat Rai and the moderates led by Ras Bihari Ghosh.
- Ras Bihari Ghosh eventually became the President of the Congress.
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23. The process of a split in the Congress in the early years of the twentieth century began over –
(a) Strategies of the Congress Movement
(b) Objectives of the Congress
(c) Participation of the people in the Congress Movement
(d) All of the above
[56th to 59th B.P.S.C. (Pre) 2015]
Ans. (d) All of the above
- Surat Split is mostly known for the break-up of the Congress party into two groups, moderates and extremists, at the Surat Session of Congress in December 1907.
- This split happened because of disagreements on the strategies and goals of the Congress movement and on how the people should be involved.
- The extremists were led by Lokmanya Tilak, Lajpat Rai, and Bipin Chandra Pal and the moderates were led by R.B. Ghosh, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Ferozeshah Mehta and Surendranath Bannerjee.
- Later, in 1916, the Congress reunited at the Lucknow session, with Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Gopal Krishna Gokhale standing together again.
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26. Surat split was led by –
(a) Hume
(b) Dufferin
(c) Tilak
(d) Gandhiji
[Uttarakhand P.C.S. (Mains) 2002]
Ans. (c) Tilak
- In 1907, during the Surat session which was held by the Tapti River, the Indian National Congress divided into two factions, the extremists and the moderates.
- Lokmanya Tilak, Lajpat Rai, and Bipin Chandra Pal were the leaders of the extremists and Gopal Krishna Gokhale led the moderates.
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27. What was the main reason for the split in the Indian National Congress at Surat in 1907?
(a) Introduction of communalism into Indian politics by Lord Minto
(b) Extremists’ lack of faith in the capacity of the moderates to negotiate with the British Government
(c) Foundation of Muslim League
(d) Aurobindo Ghosh’s inability to be elected as the President of the Indian National Congress.
[I.A.S. (Pre) 2016]
Ans. (b) Extremists’ lack of faith in the capacity of the moderates to negotiate with the British Government
- The Indian National Congress split in 1907 in Surat because the Extremists had no trust in the Moderates’ ability to deal with the British Government.
- The Extremists wanted to expand the Swadeshi and Boycott Movement, but the Moderates disagreed.
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