In 1937, elections to the provincial legislatures were held for the first time. Only about 10 to 12 per cent of the population enjoyed the right to vote. The Congress did well in the elections, winning an absolute majority in five out of eleven provinces and forming governments in seven of them. It did badly in the constituencies reserved for Muslims, but the Muslim League also fared poorly, polling only 4.4 per cent of the total Muslim vote cast in this election. The League failed to win a single seat in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and could capture only two out of 84 reserved constituencies in Punjab and three out of 33 in Sind. In the United Provinces, the Muslim League wanted to form a joint government with Congress. The Congress had won an absolute majority in the province, so it rejected the offer. Some scholars argue that this rejection convinced the League that if India remained united, then Muslims would find it difficult to gain political power because they would remain a minority. The League assumed, of course, that only a Muslim party could represent Muslim interests, and that the Congress was essentially a Hindu party. But Jinnah’s insistence that the League be recognised as the “sole spokesman” of Muslims could convince few at the time. Though popular in the United Provinces, Bombay and Madras, social support for the League was still fairly weak in three of the provinces from which Pakistan was to be carved out just ten years later – Bengal, the NWFP and Punjab. Even in Sind, it failed to form a government. It was from this point onwards that the League doubled its efforts at expanding its social support.

Assertion: In December 1938, the Congress Working Committee declared that Congress members could not be members of the Mahasabha.
Reason: Congress leaders in the 1930s insisted on secularism. Also, Maulana Azad pointed out that members of Congress were not allowed to join the League but were active in the Hindu Mahasabha.

Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

The correct answer is Option 1- Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

Assertion: In December 1938, the Congress Working Committee declared that Congress members could not be members of the Mahasabha.
Reason: Congress leaders in the 1930s insisted on secularism. Also, Maulana Azad pointed out that members of Congress were not allowed to join the League but were active in the Hindu Mahasabha.

The reason correctly explains the motivation behind the assertion. The emphasis on secularism and the specific concern raised by Maulana Azad about dual membership in communal organizations provided a strong rationale for the Congress Working Committee's decision in December 1938. The aim was to uphold a consistent policy to prevent members from engaging in communal politics, whether with the Muslim League or the Hindu Mahasabha.



While the leading Congress leaders in the late 1930s insisted more than ever before on the need for secularism, these ideas were by no means universally shared lower down in the party hierarchy, or even by all Congress ministers. Maulana Azad, an important Congress leader, pointed out in 1937 that members of the Congress were not allowed to join the League, yet Congressmen were active in the Hindu Mahasabha– at least in the Central Provinces (present-day Madhya Pradesh). Only in December 1938 did the Congress Working Committee declare that Congress members could not be members of the Mahasabha.