The pact signed between the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League in 1916, under which the Congress accepted separate electorates for Muslims, is known as the:

The pact signed between the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League at their sessions in Lucknow in December 1916 is known as the Lucknow Pact.

Background:

• During the First World War, Muslim opinion turned against the British, because of Britain's war with Turkey, the home of the Khalifa.
• The reunion of the Moderates and the Extremists in the Congress at Lucknow in 1916 also strengthened the national movement.
• Leaders such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Muhammad Ali Jinnah worked to bring the two organisations together.
• The Congress session at Lucknow was presided over by Ambika Charan Mazumdar.

Main terms of the Lucknow Pact:

• The Congress and the Muslim League would put forward joint demands to the British government for constitutional reforms.
• They demanded that the government should declare that it would grant self-government to India at an early date.
• The representative assemblies should be expanded, with an elected majority, and given more powers.
• The Congress accepted separate electorates for Muslims in the provincial and central legislatures.
• The Muslims were given a fixed proportion of seats in the legislatures, with more than their population share in provinces where they were a minority (weightage), and less where they were in a majority.

Significance:

• It was a landmark in Hindu-Muslim unity, and made possible the joint Khilafat-Non-Cooperation Movement later.
• It strengthened the demand for self-government.

Criticism:

By accepting separate electorates, the Congress gave formal recognition to communal politics, which later contributed to the partition of India.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The Delhi Pact was between Gandhi and the Viceroy.
• ✗The Poona Pact was a later agreement between Gandhi and Ambedkar.
• ✗"Karachi Pact" is not a recognised pact of the national movement.