QUESTION 3
GS1
10 marks
Why did the ‘Moderates’ fail to carry conviction with the nation about their proclaimed ideology and political goals by the end of the nineteenth century?
WRITE IN
7 min
150 words
What the examiner wants
Explain why the Moderates' ideology and goals failed to win popular conviction by the 1890s.
WhyAnswer exactly what the question asks.
Demand-wise check
- 1Ideology: faith in British justice, constitutional methods (petitions, resolutions), gradual self-government within Empire≈30 words
- 2Failures: narrow urban educated base, no mass mobilisation, meagre gains (Indian Councils Act 1892), repeated rejection of demands≈30 words
- 3Context: famines and plague (1896–97), repressive measures, rise of Extremists (Tilak, Aurobindo) calling it 'mendicancy'≈30 words
- 4Balance: economic critique (drain theory), political education, groundwork for nationalism≈30 words
Open in about 20 words and close in about 20.
Answer plan
Moderate ideology and goalsWhy they failed to convinceRise of criticsTheir real contributionConclusion
Where marks usually go
- Writing only achievements of the Moderates
- Drifting into the 1907 Surat split instead of the end-19th-century context
Draw this
- Two columns: Moderate method → public perception
Value addition
- CritiqueAurobindo's 'New Lamps for Old' articles (Indu Prakash, 1893–94) attacked the Congress as unrepresentative and timid.Indu Prakash, 1893–94
- ThinkerDadabhai Naoroji's drain theory, later in 'Poverty and Un-British Rule in India' (1901), was the Moderates' strongest economic critique.Dadabhai Naoroji
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- Ajay R Raj · AIR 109 · Page 3 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Akansh Dhull · AIR 3 · Page 23 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Monika Srivastava · AIR 16 · Page 3 ↗Same syllabus reference
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 3 ↗Same syllabus reference
Links open original public sources. MainsBuddy does not host these answer sheets.
Next: plan for one minute, write it in 7 minutes, then get it checked.