UPSC Prelims 2021 Q43: 8 August 1942 and the Quit India Story
With reference to 8th August, 1942 in Indian history, which one of the following statements is correct?
- The Quit India Resolution was adopted by the AICC.
- The Viceroy's Executive Council was expanded to include more Indians.
- The Congress ministries resigned in seven provinces.
- Cripps proposed an Indian Union with full Dominion Status once the Second World War was over.
Answer: (a) The Quit India Resolution was adopted by the AICC.
Statement-wise explanation
- a: correct — The All India Congress Committee met at Gowalia Tank Maidan in Bombay and passed the Quit India Resolution on 8 August 1942. The Congress Working Committee had already approved the draft at Wardha on 14 July 1942. Jawaharlal Nehru moved the resolution at the AICC and Sardar Patel seconded it. That same night Gandhi gave his 'Do or Die' speech. Arrests of the Congress leaders began early on 9 August.
- b: incorrect — The Viceroy's Executive Council was expanded in July 1941, not on 8 August 1942. After the expansion, Indians held 8 of its 12 seats. The 8 August link is a trap from two years earlier: Lord Linlithgow's August Offer of 8 August 1940 promised to expand the Council with more Indians.
- c: incorrect — The Congress ministries resigned in October–November 1939. They were protesting because Viceroy Linlithgow had declared India a party to the Second World War without consulting Indian leaders. By August 1942 there were no Congress ministries left to resign. Also, by 1939 Congress governed eight provinces, not seven: it won seven in 1937 and later formed the government in Assam as well.
- d: incorrect — Sir Stafford Cripps brought his proposals to India in March–April 1942, not in August. The Cripps offer did promise an Indian Union with Dominion status and an elected constitution-making body after the war. But it was made and rejected months before 8 August. Its failure was one reason the Quit India Resolution followed.
How to eliminate
This is a date-matching question. Place each event on a 1939–42 timeline. Ministries resigned: October–November 1939, right after the war began. August Offer: 8 August 1940. Executive Council expanded: July 1941. Cripps Mission: March–April 1942. Quit India Resolution: 8 August 1942. The Cripps statement cannot fit a single August date, because Cripps left India in April 1942. The ministry resignations are a 1939 event that any candidate who knows the war began in September 1939 can rule out. The Council-expansion statement is the real trap. It matches 8 August 1940 (the August Offer), not 1942. Fact to remember: 8 August 1940 = August Offer; 8 August 1942 = AICC passes Quit India Resolution in Bombay.
Know more
From the war crisis to Quit India (1939–42)
The Second World War changed Congress's relationship with the Raj. In September 1939 Viceroy Linlithgow declared India a party to the war without consulting Indian leaders. The Congress ministries resigned in protest in October–November 1939. Britain then made a series of offers that Congress found inadequate. These ended with the Quit India Resolution.
| Date | Event | Key content |
|---|---|---|
| Oct–Nov 1939 | Congress ministries resign | Protest against India being declared a party to the war without consultation |
| 23 Mar 1940 | Lahore Resolution (Muslim League) | Demand for independent states in Muslim-majority areas |
| 8 Aug 1940 | August Offer | Dominion status as the goal; expanded Executive Council; War Advisory Council |
| Oct 1940–41 | Individual satyagraha | Selected satyagrahis, Vinoba Bhave first, Nehru second |
| Jul 1941 | Executive Council expanded | Indians hold 8 of 12 seats |
| Mar–Apr 1942 | Cripps Mission | Dominion status after the war; provinces could opt out; rejected |
| 14 Jul 1942 | Wardha CWC meeting | Approves the draft 'Quit India' resolution |
| 8 Aug 1942 | AICC, Gowalia Tank, Bombay | Quit India Resolution passed; 'Do or Die' |
| 9 Aug 1942 | Arrests of leaders | Aruna Asaf Ali hoists the flag at Gowalia Tank |
What the resolution said: British rule must end at once. A provisional government would be formed after independence. A mass non-violent struggle was approved under Gandhi's leadership. With the leaders in jail, the movement became leaderless and decentralised. It produced underground networks (Usha Mehta's Congress Radio) and parallel governments in Ballia (1942), Tamluk (1942–44) and Satara (1943–). Gowalia Tank Maidan is now called August Kranti Maidan.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Quit India movement: Explains what the AICC did in Bombay in August 1942 and what followed from it.
- August Offer 1940: Also announced on 8 August, but in 1940; it promised a bigger Executive Council, which makes it the question's date trap.
- Cripps Mission 1942: Sets out the Dominion-status offer and the exact months Cripps was in India, which you need to test the Cripps statement.
- Individual satyagraha 1940-41: Connects the August Offer to Quit India and helps you order the 1940–42 events correctly.