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Question 17 of 66 · Gandhian Era & Struggle for Independence
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The Cripps Mission was sent to India in March 1942 by the British Prime Minister:

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Answer: Option D — Winston Churchill

Detailed Solution

The Cripps Mission was sent to India in March 1942 by the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, during the Second World War.

Background:

  • In early 1942, Japan had swept through South-East Asia, capturing Singapore, Malaya and Rangoon, and was threatening India.
  • Britain needed the active support of Indians in the war.
  • The United States (President Franklin Roosevelt) and China (Chiang Kai-shek) put pressure on Britain to win Indian cooperation.

The mission:

Sir Stafford Cripps, a Labour leader and member of the War Cabinet, who was known to be sympathetic to Indian aspirations, came to India in March 1942 with a set of proposals.

The Cripps proposals:

  • After the war, India would be given Dominion Status, with the right to leave the Commonwealth.
  • After the war, a Constituent Assembly would be set up to frame a new constitution; its members would be elected by the provincial legislatures, and the princely states would nominate their representatives.
  • Any province that did not accept the new constitution could stay out and make its own arrangement with Britain; this opened the door to partition.
  • During the war, the British would retain control of defence.

Rejection:

  • The Congress rejected the proposals, because they offered only Dominion Status after the war, and because the British would keep control of defence; it also objected to the option for provinces to stay out.
  • The Muslim League also rejected them, because they did not clearly accept the demand for Pakistan.

What followed:

  • The failure of the Cripps Mission led to great disappointment in India.
  • In August 1942, the Congress launched the Quit India Movement.

About Churchill:

  • He was the Conservative Prime Minister of Britain during most of the Second World War (1940-1945), and again from 1951 to 1955.
  • He was a strong opponent of Indian self-government.

Why not the other options?

  • ✗Attlee, Chamberlain and MacDonald were other Prime Ministers.

Quick tip

Remember: Cripps Mission (March 1942) = sent by Winston Churchill; Dominion Status after the war; option for provinces to stay out; rejected by both Congress and League; followed by Quit India (August 1942).

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Gandhian Era & Struggle for Independence — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Gandhian Era & Struggle for Independence, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers the freedom struggle from Gandhi's return to India in 1915 to independence in 1947: the Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad movements, the Rowlatt Act and Jallianwala Bagh, the Non-Cooperation, Civil Disobedience and Quit India movements, the Round Table Conferences, the Cripps Mission, the Cabinet Mission and the partition of India. Most questions ask about the year, cause or result of a movement, or the event that ended it. For example, the Chauri Chaura incident (1922) led Gandhi to call off the Non-Cooperation Movement, and the Dandi March (1930) started the Civil Disobedience Movement. Learning these events on a timeline is the best way to avoid confusion. Practise the Gandhian era questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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