Who was a part of the group of nationalist leaders being referred to as “Moderates”?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Gopal Krishna Gokhale
When Gandhiji returned to India in 1915, the Congress had two kinds of leaders. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai, known as “Lal, Bal and Pal”, advocated militant opposition to colonial rule. The “Moderates” preferred a more gradual and persuasive approach, and among them was Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Gandhiji’s acknowledged political mentor.
NCERT (2025-26): “1. A Leader Announces Himself … That movement had thrown up some towering leaders – among them Bal Gangadhar Tilak of Maharashtra, Bipin Chandra Pal of Bengal, and Lala Lajpat Rai of Punjab. The three were known as ‘Lal, Bal and Pal’, the alliteration conveying the all-India character of their struggle, since their native provinces were very distant from one another. Where these leaders advocated militant opposition to colonial rule, there was a group of ‘Moderates’ who preferred a more gradual and persuasive approach. Among these Moderates was Gandhiji’s acknowledged political mentor, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, as well as Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who, like Gandhiji, was a lawyer of Gujarati extraction trained in London.…” |