Consider the following assertion:
The genesis of political alliances based on community lay in the very nature of the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms, 1919.
Which of the following statements support/supports the above assertion?
- 1.Reforms retained and extended the principle of separate electorates.
- 2.Separate electorates were supposed to counter Indian nationalism, which was growing stronger.
- 3.Deprived classes rallied around the favours inherent in separate electorates.
Select the answer using the code given below:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (d) 1, 2 and 3
All three statements explain why the 1919 reforms pushed politics along community lines. They kept the Muslim separate electorates of 1909 and widened them to other communities, the British hoped such formulas would undercut the Congress claim to speak for a united nationalist movement, and groups that gained reserved seats organised around those benefits.
- ✓ 1. The Government of India Act, 1919 kept separate electorates for Muslims and extended them to other communities, such as the Sikhs and Christians, earmarking constituencies by community.
- ✓ 2. Britannica notes that the British hoped these elaborate minority formulas would win minority support and undermine the Congress claim to speak for a united nationalist movement.
- ✓ 3. The separate electoral system was expanded for Sikhs in Punjab, non-Brahmins in Madras and Marathas in Bombay; once seats were tied to community, groups that stood to gain organised politically as communities to claim those benefits.
Remember · Separate electorates: Muslims 1909 (Minto-Morley); expanded to Sikhs, Christians and others in 1919; separate electorates for the Depressed Classes were the issue of the Round Table Conferences.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Themes in Indian History, Part III, Ch 4 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- Haryana Gazetteers: Panipat District Gazetteer, Ch XVIII, Public Life and Voluntary Social Service Organisations ↗ “The Government of India Act, 1919 did sow the seeds of communal representation in the country by earmarking constituencies for the Muslims, Sikhs etc.”
- NCERT Class 12 · Themes in Indian History, Part III, Chapter 4 “Edwin Montague (left) was the author of the Montague-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 which allowed some form of representation in provincial legislative assemblies.”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, India: Constitutional reforms (Romila Thapar) ↗ · reference work “The separate electorate formula introduced for Muslims in the Government of India Act of 1909 (the Morley-Minto Reforms) was expanded and applied to other minorities in the Government of India Acts (1919 and 1935). … to undermine the arguments of Congress’s radical leadership that they alone spoke for India’s “united nationalist movement.””
- The Government of India Act, 1919 (Abha Trivedi), University of Lucknow study material ↗ · reference work “Separate electoral system was expanded for Sikhs in Punjab, non-Brahmins in Madras and Marathas in Bombay.”
Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper I (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·