Consider the following Assertion and Reason:

1. Assertion (A): The Congress Ministries in all the provinces resigned in the year 1939.
2. Reason (R): The Congress did not accept the decision of the Viceroy to declare war against Germany in the context of the Second World War.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1. Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A
2. Both A and R are individually true but R is not the correct explanation of A
3. A is true but R is false
4. A is false but R is true

Explanation

Option (a) is correct

In October and November 1939, the Congress Ministries in provinces resigned en masse. They had been in power since the 1937 elections under the Government of India Act, 1935. The resignation was a protest against the Viceroy Lord Linlithgow, who had declared India a belligerent in World War II without consulting the Indian legislatures or leaders. The Congress argued that a nation cannot be forced into a war for “democratic freedom” when that very freedom was denied to its own people.

Answer: (a) Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A; Difficulty Level: Medium