Previous Year Question

In March 1942, the British War Cabinet sent Sir Stafford Cripps to India with constitutional proposals. The Cripps Proposals promised Dominion Status and a constitution-making body after the war, but they did not accept an immediate transfer of effective power, and British control over defence was to continue during the war.

The Indian National Congress considered these proposals inadequate. The Congress demanded an immediately responsible national government and a genuine transfer of power. The failure of the Cripps Mission, together with the conditions created by the Second World War, produced widespread discontent. Against this background, Mahatma Gandhi demanded that the British leave India.

The Congress Working Committee passed the historic Quit India Resolution at Wardha on 14 July 1942. The All India Congress Committee endorsed it in Bombay on 8 August 1942, where Gandhiji gave the call of “Do or Die.” Following the arrest of the principal leaders on 9 August, the movement spread across the country. Thus, the immediate political background of the Quit India Movement was the failure of the Cripps Proposals.

The Simon Commission belonged to a much earlier period, whereas the Wavell Plan and the Cabinet Mission came after the Quit India Movement. Therefore, option B is correct.