Since the decade of the 1920s, the national movement acquired various ideological strands and thereby expanded its social base. Discuss.
Approach · directive: “discuss”
What it asks · Discuss how Gandhian, constitutional, socialist, communist, revolutionary, peasant, Dalit and even communal strands entered the movement after the 1920s and widened its social base.
It asks 3 things — answer each
- Discuss the ideological strands that entered the national movement from the 1920s
- Discuss how these strands expanded its social base: peasants, workers, Dalits, women and youth
- Note the tensions and counter-currents that came with this plurality
Open with · After Non-Cooperation the national movement ceased to be a platform of the educated few; new ideologies entered it or grew beside it, each bringing a new social group.
Cover
- Gandhian mass politics: Salt March (1930) and Quit India (1942) drew peasants, women, students and traders.
- Constitutionalists: Swaraj Party (1923) of C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru; Nehru Report (1928).
- Socialists: Congress Socialist Party (1934); Karachi Session (1931) declaration on Fundamental Rights.
- Communists and labour: AITUC (1920), Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929).
- Revolutionaries: HSRA (1928), Bhagat Singh's Assembly bomb (1929), Chittagong armoury raid (1930).
- New bases: Kisan Sabhas (1929, 1936), Mahad Satyagraha (1927), Poona Pact (1932), women in salt-making and picketing.
- Counter-currents: RSS (1925), Hindu Mahasabha, Muslim League's two-nation theory and Lahore Resolution (1940).
Close with · The plural movement handed its agenda to the Republic: rights from Karachi, a social programme from the Left, and the claims of peasants, Dalits and women.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2020, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 16 Oct 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer· 339words · Minimalist IAS
After Non-Cooperation the national movement ceased to be a platform of the educated few. Through the 1920s and 1930s new ideologies entered the Congress or grew beside it, and each carried a fresh social group into the struggle.
Ideological strands after the 1920s
- Gandhian mass politics: the Salt March (1930) turned a household tax into an all-India cause, and Quit India (1942) drew in peasants, women, students and traders.
- Constitutionalists: C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru's Swaraj Party (1923) took the fight into the councils; the Nehru Report (1928) defined equal citizenship, keeping lawyers and professionals engaged.
- Socialists: young leaders formed the Congress Socialist Party (1934) for a more radical, egalitarian Congress; the Karachi Session (1931) declared Fundamental Rights, including women's equality.
- Communists and labour: the AITUC (Bombay, 1920) and the Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929) put industrial workers and strikes on the national stage.
- Revolutionaries: the HSRA, founded at Delhi's Ferozeshah Kotla in 1928, and Bhagat Singh's Assembly bomb (1929) fired students; the Chittagong armoury raid (1930) followed.
National movement after the 1920s: Gandhian satyagraha; Swarajist council entry; Congress socialists; Communists and labour; Revolutionary youth; Peasant and Dalit assertion
How the social base widened
- Peasants: the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (1929) and the All India Kisan Sabha (1936) demanded freedom from economic exploitation by landlords and moneylenders.
- Depressed Classes: Ambedkar's Mahad Satyagraha (1927) and the Poona Pact (September 1932), which gave them reserved seats, placed caste on the national agenda.
- Women: salt-making, picketing and the Karachi promise of equality brought women into public life in large numbers.
Tensions and counter-currents
- Method and class: Gandhian restraint clashed with revolutionary and Left methods, and the Congress leadership with workers' and Dalit demands.
- Communal strands: the RSS (1925), the Hindu Mahasabha and the Muslim League's two-nation theory, sharpened in the Lahore Resolution (1940), competed for the same people and pushed politics towards Partition.
The plural movement handed its agenda to the Republic: rights from Karachi, a social programme from the Left, and the claims of peasants, Dalits and women became the Constitution's promises.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 16 Oct 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
