Which of the following statements is correct about Gorbachev and incidents that took place while he was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union?

The Central Asian republics did not ask for independence and wanted to remain with the Soviet Federation.

The correct answer is Option 3 - The Central Asian republics did not ask for independence and wanted to remain with the Soviet Federation.

Let us understand each statement one by one:

Option 1 - Gorbachev’s decided to completely sever any relations with the West is incorrect.

Correct version: Gorbachev’s decision to normalise relations with the West and democratise and reform the Soviet Union had some other effects that neither he nor anyone else intended or anticipated.

Option 2- Gorbachev curbed any policy of economic and political reform and democratization within the country is incorrect

Correct version: Gorbachev’s decision to normalise relations with the West and democratise and reform the Soviet Union had some other effects that neither he nor anyone else intended or anticipated.

Option 3- The Central Asian republics did not ask for independence and wanted to remain with the Soviet Federation is CORRECT

Option 4 - Boris Yeltsin emerged as a national hero who supported and promoted the coup of 1991 is incorrect.

Correct version:  A coup took place in 1991 that was encouraged by Communist Party hardliners. The people had tasted freedom by then and did not want the old-style rule of the Communist Party. Boris Yeltsin emerged as a national hero in opposing this coup.

Therefore, the only correct statement is Option 3 - The Central Asian republics did not ask for independence and wanted to remain with the Soviet Federation.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Text from NCERT:

Mikhail Gorbachev, who had become General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985, sought to reform this system. Reforms were necessary to keep the USSR abreast of the information and technological revolutions taking place in the West. However, Gorbachev’s decision to normalise relations with the West and democratise and reform the Soviet Union had some other effects that neither he nor anyone else intended or anticipated. The people in the East European countries which were part of the Soviet bloc started to protest against their own governments and Soviet control. Unlike in the past, the Soviet Union, under Gorbachev, did not intervene when the disturbances occurred, and the communist regimes collapsed one after another. These developments were accompanied by a rapidly escalating crisis within the USSR that hastened its disintegration. Gorbachev initiated the policies of economic and political reform and democratisation within the country. The reforms were opposed by leaders within the Communist Party. A coup took place in 1991 that was encouraged by Communist Party hardliners. The people had tasted freedom by then and did not want the old-style rule of the Communist Party. Boris Yeltsin emerged as a national hero in opposing this coup. The Russian Republic, where Yeltsin won a popular election, began to shake off centralised control. Power began to shift from the Soviet centre to the republics, especially in the more Europeanised part of the Soviet Union, which saw themselves as sovereign states. The Central Asian republics did not ask for independence and wanted to remain with the Soviet Federation. In December 1991, under the leadership of Yeltsin, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, three major republics of the USSR, declared that the Soviet Union was disbanded. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was banned. Capitalism and democracy were adopted as the bases for the post-Soviet republics.