Why did the Congress Ministers resign in 1939?
A. The British government refused to release the prisoners of war.
B. The Second Round Table Conference in London was inconclusive.
C. The British government refused to give a promise to grant independence to India after the war.
D. Gandhi was not given proper attention.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → C only
A. The British government refused to release the prisoners of war. Incorrect. The Congress offer of 1939 was about a promise of independence after the war, not about prisoners of war.
B. The Second Round Table Conference in London was inconclusive. Incorrect. The Second Round Table Conference was held in the latter part of 1931, eight years earlier. The ministries resigned in 1939 over India’s part in the Second World War.
C. The British government refused to give a promise to grant independence to India after the war. Correct. The Second World War broke out in September 1939. Gandhiji and Nehru promised Congress support to the war effort if the British promised to grant India independence once hostilities ended. The offer was refused, and in protest the Congress ministries resigned in October 1939.
D. Gandhi was not given proper attention. Incorrect. The quarrel was over a promise of independence, not over the attention paid to Gandhiji.
NCERT (2026-27): “3.2 Dialogues … In September 1939, two years after the Congress ministries assumed office, the Second World War broke out. Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru had both been strongly critical of Hitler and the Nazis. Accordingly, they promised Congress support to the war effort if the British, in return, promised to grant India independence once hostilities ended.… 3.2 Dialogues … The offer was refused. In protest, the Congress ministries resigned in October 1939. Through 1940 and 1941, the Congress organised a series of individual satyagrahas to pressure the rulers to promise freedom once the war had ended.…” |