What was the primary criticism of socialists against the Congress Par…

The correct answer is Option (1) → Favouring capitalists and landlords.

Option (1) Favouring capitalists and landlords. — Correct. The socialists believed in democratic socialism and criticised the Congress for favouring capitalists and landlords and for ignoring the workers and the peasants.

Option (2) Appeasement of minorities. — Incorrect. Appeasement means favouring a group to win its support. That charge was not the socialists’ one: their quarrel with the Congress was about class, that it sided with capitalists and landlords against workers and peasants.

Option (3) Their demand for minimal state interventions. — Incorrect. Socialists wanted more state action for workers and peasants, not less, and the Congress itself stood for planning, a large public sector and, from 1955, the socialist pattern of society.

Option (4) Anti-reservation stand. — Incorrect. Reservation means setting aside seats in education, jobs or legislatures for disadvantaged groups. It was not the ground of the socialists’ criticism, which was the Congress’s tilt towards capitalists and landlords.