Related to the Provincial elections of 1937 in India, choose the incorrect option.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → There were fifteen provinces where the elections were held
Option (1) There were fifteen provinces where the elections were held — False. The elections of 1937 were held in eleven provinces, not fifteen. The Congress won an absolute majority in five of these eleven and formed governments in seven of them.
Option (2) Only 10-12% of Indians were eligible to vote — True. The franchise was very limited: only about 10 to 12 per cent of the population had the right to vote in these provincial elections.
Option (3) Muslim League performed poorly — True. The League polled only 4.4 per cent of the total Muslim vote. It failed to win a single seat in the NWFP and won only two of 84 reserved seats in the Punjab and three of 33 in Sind.
Option (4) Congress won an absolute majority in five provinces — True. The Congress did well, winning an absolute majority in five out of eleven provinces, though it did badly in the seats reserved for Muslims.
Note: This question is taken from the chapter ‘Understanding Partition’ which was there in the pre-rationalised NCERT and has been deleted from subsequent editions of NCERT, including the NCERT book (2026-27).
NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “3.2 The provincial elections of 1937 and … 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 the Punjab and three out of 33 in Sind.…” |