Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Modern India: Mahatma Gandhi and the Nationalist movement

Question:

When did the Congress Ministries resign in protest when the British government refused to grant India independence after World War II ended?

Options:

September 1939

October 1939

March 1940

August 1942

Correct Answer:

October 1939

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (2) → October 1939

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. 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.