Question

Describe the SURAT SPLIT.

Answer 1

The Indian National Congress(INC) which was established in 1885 was divided into two groups(in the year 1907) mainly by extremists and moderates at the Surat Session of the Congress.The period 1885-1905 was known as the period of the moderates as moderates dominated the Indian National Congress. These Moderates used petition, prayers, meetings, leaflets and pamphlets memorandum and delegations to present their demands. Moderates were not able to achieve notable goals other than the expansion of the legislative council by the Indian Council Act of 1892. This created dis-satisfaction among the people. In 1907 the INC meeting was to be held in Pune and the extremists wanted Lala Lajpat Rai or Bal Gangadhar Tilak as president. But moderates wanted Rash Behari Ghosh to be president. Gopal Krishna Gokhale changed the meeting place from Pune to Surat fearing that if Pune was to be held as meeting place then Bal Gangadhar Tilak would become President. The partition of Bengal became the rise of extremism in INC.

Surat was in Bombay Presidency/Province, where Bal Gangadhar Tilak was from, and Nagpur was a different province. Nagpur Province was province of British India that covered parts of the present-day states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Chhattisgarh, with Nagpur city being the capital. So, as Surat was the home province of Bal Gangadhar Tilak he could not preside over the meeting. Hence it was decided that Ghosh would be president. Extremists protested in the INC meeting as Bal Gangadhar Tilak was not given permission even to speak by pandit Madanmohan Malviya extremists then reacted by throwing eggs, footwear etc and wanted the meeting to be cancelled. Moderates then held a secret meeting and decided to abdicate extremists.

Answer 2



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Surat Split 1907

April 15, 2018

At the Surat Split 1907, congress leaders split into two groups – moderates and extremists. The Rift between these two sections became apparent at the Banaras Session (1905) when some nationalist-led by Tilak denounced the method of the moderates and suggested passive resistance. They also advocated the boycott of British goods and government institutions. At the end of this session, Lokmanya Tilak, and his followers held a separate conference and announced the formation of the Extremist Party. However, they decided to work as a part of the Indian National Congress.
In 1906, at Calcutta Session, the rift between Moderators and Extremists further widened. Both the groups put their candidates for presidentship but Dadabhai Naroji was accepted as a compromise candidate by both of groups. The Extremists group also succeeded in getting a resolution which emphasised the principle of swadeshi, boycott, and national education.