HistoryModern India: Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist movement

In a July 1936 letter to Gandhiji, Nehru calls a colleague's second l…

In a July 1936 letter to Gandhiji, Nehru calls a colleague's second letter to him a formidable indictment of himself. Whose letter was it?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → Rajendra Prasad

Option (1) Rajendra Prasad — Correct. Rajendra Babu is Rajendra Prasad, leader of the conservatives, who had written to Nehru; Nehru calls his second letter a formidable indictment.

Option (2) Narendra Dev — Incorrect. Narendra Dev was one of the socialists who worked closely with Nehru, so he was on Nehru's side.

Option (3) Sardar Patel — Incorrect. Patel also led the conservatives, but the letter Nehru names is not his.

Option (4) N.G. Ranga — Incorrect. N.G. Ranga was one of the socialists who worked closely with Nehru, so he stood with Nehru in this rift.

NCERT (2026-27): “6.1 Public voice and private scripts …
I arrived here last night. Ever since I left Wardha I have been feeling weak in body and troubled in mind. … Since my return from Europe, I found that meetings of the Working Committee exhaust me greatly; they have a devitalising effect on me and I have almost the feeling of being older in years after every fresh experience … I am grateful to you for all the trouble you took in smoothing over matters and in helping to avoid a crisis. I read again Rajendra Babu’s letter to me (the second one) and his formidable indictment of me ... For however tenderly the fact may be stated, it amounts to this that I am an intolerable nuisance and the very qualities I possess – a measure of ability, energy, earnestness, some personality which has a vague appeal – become dangerous for they are harnessed to the wrong chariot (socialism). The conclusion from all this is obvious. …”