What was/were the primary political demands of the Moderates during the early phase of the Indian National Congress?

Question

What was/were the primary political demands of the Moderates during the early phase of the Indian National Congress?

1. A. To attain Purna Swaraj
2. B. To allow separate electorates for all marginalized groups
3. C. Expansion of Legislation Councils and greater representation of Indians in the Civil Services (Correct answer)
4. D. Total boycott of British institutions like the Judiciary

Correct Answer

Option C — Expansion of Legislation Councils and greater representation of Indians in the Civil Services

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is Expansion of Legislation Councils and greater representation of Indians in the Civil Services.

Key Points

• The Moderate phase of the Congress ran from 1885 to 1905, led by figures such as Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Surendranath Banerjee, Pherozeshah Mehta, W.C. Bonnerjee and M.G. Ranade.
• Their principal political demands were:
  • Expansion and reform of the Legislative Councils, with a greater elected Indian element.
  • Indianisation of the civil services, including holding the ICS examination simultaneously in India and Britain and raising the age limit.
  • Separation of the judiciary from the executive.
  • Reduction of military expenditure and of the "Home Charges".
  • Freedom of speech and of the press.
• Their method was constitutional agitation — petitions, resolutions, memoranda and speeches — grounded in a faith in British justice and liberal institutions.

Additional Information

• Why the other options are wrong:
  • Purna Swaraj (complete independence) was adopted only at the Lahore Session of 1929, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru — a quarter-century after the Moderate phase.
  • Separate electorates were a demand of the Muslim League, conceded through the Morley-Minto Reforms of 1909; the Congress opposed them.
  • Total boycott of British institutions belonged to the Extremists and later to the Non-Cooperation Movement of 1920–22.
• The Moderates' most enduring achievement was economic: the Drain Theory, developed by Dadabhai Naoroji and R.C. Dutt, exposed the systematic transfer of Indian wealth to Britain and destroyed the moral case for colonial rule. They also secured the Indian Councils Act, 1892.
• The Surat Split (1907) divided the Congress between Moderates and Extremists over the presidency and the question of methods; the two wings reunited at the Lucknow Session of 1916, which also produced the Lucknow Pact with the Muslim League.