Spectrum Test: Congress Rule in Provinces - UPSC MCQ

• It won an absolute majority in 5 provinces viz. Madras, United Provinces, Central provinces, Bihar & Orissa, Bombay, Assam and North-West Frontier Province emerged as the largest political party and formed the governments. 

• Later Assam and NWFP also came under Congress rule. In Bengal, Punjab and Sind, Congress had no majority.

• Gandhi advised Congressmen to hold these offices lightly and not tightly. The offices were to be seen as "crowns of thorns' which had been accepted to see if they quickened the pace towards the nationalist goal.

• Gandhi advised that these offices should be used in a way not expected or intended by the British.

• There was great enthusiasm among the people; suppressed mass-energy had got released. 

• There was an increase in Congress's prestige as it had shown that it could lead people and use State power for their benefit. 

• But the Congress ministries had some basic limitations: they could not, through their administration, change the basic imperialist character of the system and could not introduce a radical era.

• Laws giving emergency powers were repealed. 

• Ban on illegal organizations, such as the Hindustan Seva Dal and Youth Leagues, and certain books and journals was lifted. Press restrictions were lifted. 

• Newspapers were taken out of blacklists. 

• Confiscated arms and arms licences were restored. 

• Police powers were curbed, and the CID stopped shadowing politicians. • Political prisoners and revolutionaries were released, and deportation and internment orders were revoked. 

• In Bombay land confiscated by the government during the Civil Disobedience Movement was restored. 

• Pensions of officials associated with the Civil Disobedience Movement were restored. But there were certain blemishes in the performance of the Congress ministries regarding civil liberties. 

• The basic approach was to advance workers' interests while promoting industrial peace. 

• This was sought to be achieved by reducing strikes as far as possible and by advocating compulsory arbitration prior to striking before the established conciliation machinery. 

• Goodwill was sought to be created between labour and capital with mediation of ministries, while at the same time efforts were made to improve workers' condition and secure wage increases for them. 

• The ministries treated militant trade union protests as law and order problems and acted as mediators as far as possible. This approach was largely successful but not so in Bombay. Also, leftist critics were not satisfied with this approach. Generally, the ministries took recourse to Section 144 and arrested the leaders.

Lonar Lake, also known as Lonar crater, is a saline and alkaline lake located at Lonar in Buldhana district, Maharashtra. Hence, Statement 2 is not correct.
It is situated inside the Deccan Plateau—a massive plain of volcanic basalt rock created by eruptions.
It is an oval shaped and has a mean diameter of 1.2 km. It is a popular tourist hub.
It is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument. Hence, Statement 1 is correct.

• Meanwhile, the All-India Muslim League, annoyed with the Congress for not sharing power with them established the Pirpur Committee in 1938 to prepare a detailed report on the atrocities supposedly committed by the Congress ministries. 

• In its report, the committee charged the Congress with interference in the religious rites, suppression of Urdu in favour of Hindi, denial of proper representation, and Muslims' oppression in the economic sphere.

Extra-Parliamentary Mass Activity of Congress Such activities include - 

• launching of mass literacy campaigns, 

• setting up of Congress police stations and panchayats, 

• Congress Grievance Committees presenting mass petitions to the government, and 

• states peoples' movements.

• The huge Congress victory in the elections had aroused the hopes of the industrial working class; there were increased militancy and industrial unrest in Bombay, Gujarat, the United Provinces and Bengal when the Congress was drawn into a closer friendship with Indian capitalists. 

• This resulted in what appeared to be an anti-labour shift in Congress attitudes that led to the Bombay Traders Disputes Act in 1938.