Prelims 2018 · Q11
MediumHe wrote biographies of Mazzini, Garibaldi, Shivaji and Shrikrishna; stayed in America for some time; and was also elected to the Central Assembly. He was
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) Lala Lajpat Rai
The clues of a stay in America and election to the Central Assembly fit Lala Lajpat Rai, the 'Lion of Punjab'. PIB records that he went to the United States and founded the Indian Home Rule League of America in October 1917, that he was a prolific author, and that he was elected Deputy Leader of the Swaraj Party in the Central Legislative Assembly.
- ✓ (c) Lajpat Rai spent time in the USA and founded the Indian Home Rule League of America in October 1917; he later sat in the Central Legislative Assembly as Deputy Leader of the Swaraj Party. PIB calls him a prolific author who wrote many books, which fits the clue about his writing.
- ✗ (b) Bipin Chandra Pal was, with Lajpat Rai and Tilak, one of the Lal-Bal-Pal trio, but no official page ties him to the stay in America and the Central Assembly seat that PIB records for Lajpat Rai.
- ✗ (d) Motilal Nehru helped found the Swaraj Party in 1923 to win seats in the Central Legislative Assembly (Britannica), but he is not recorded as having lived in America, so the combination of clues does not fit him.
Remember · Lala Lajpat Rai ('Punjab Kesari'): Lal-Bal-Pal leader, a founding figure of Punjab National Bank (NCERT), founded the Indian Home Rule League of America (1917), Deputy Leader of the Swaraj Party in the Central Legislative Assembly, died after the 1928 anti-Simon lathi charge.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 8 Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Ch 2 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- PIB, Ministry of Culture: exhibition to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Lala Lajpat Rai ↗ “He also visited USA & Japan. He founded the Indian Home Rule League of America in October 1917. … He joined Swaraj Party in 1926 and was elected its Deputy Leader in the Central Legislative Assembly. … He was a prolific author and wrote many books. He also founded and edited newspapers and journals. … Lala Lajpat Rai Ji was a great freedom fighter who along with Bipin Chandra Pal and Bal Gangadhar Tilak formed a trio of Lal-Bal –Pal.”
- NCERT Class 8 · Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 2), Chapter 2 “the Punjabi Nationalist leader, Lala Lajpat Rai, was one of its founding figures and early directors.”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Lajpat Rai (stay in the United States) ↗ · reference work “During World War I , Rai lived in the United States , where he founded the Indian Home Rule League of America in New York City in 1917.”
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Motilal Nehru (Swaraj Party) ↗ · reference work “In 1923 Motilal helped found the Swaraj Party (1923–27), the policy of which was to win election to the Central Legislative Assembly and obstruct its proceedings from within.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2018, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·