UPSC CSE Prelims 2002
Reason (R): The labour leaders considered the ideology of Indian National Congress as bourgeois and reactionary.
Assertion (A) is true. During the early 1930s, which coincided with the Civil Disobedience Movement, the participation of organized labour in the mainstream Indian nationalist upsurge was indeed limited. While localized strikes and worker agitations occurred in industrial areas, a widespread and integrated involvement of the working class with the Congress-led nationalist movement was not observed to the same extent as other social groups.
Reason (R) is true. Many labour leaders of the period, particularly those influenced by socialist and communist ideologies, held a critical view of the Indian National Congress. They often regarded the Congress's ideology as bourgeois, representing the interests of capitalists and the middle class, and considered it reactionary in terms of its commitment to radical social and economic reforms for the working class. This ideological divergence was a significant feature of the political landscape.
Reason (R) is the correct explanation of Assertion (A). The perception of the Indian National Congress as bourgeois and reactionary by a substantial section of labour leadership directly contributed to the weak integration of labour movements with the broader nationalist upsurge. This ideological gap led labour leaders to maintain a distinct identity for workers' struggles, often keeping them separate from the Congress-led movements, thereby limiting the overall labour participation in the nationalist efforts of the early 1930s.
Options 2, 3, and 4 are incorrect because both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are factually correct statements, and Reason (R) provides an accurate explanation for the phenomenon described in Assertion (A).