Prelims GS Paper IModern HistoryHigh-yield

Indian National Congress — Formation, Moderate/Extremist Phase, Surat Split

भारतीय राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस — गठन, नरमपंथी/गरमपंथी चरण

Indian National Congress — Formation, Moderate/Extremist Phase, Surat Split is part of the UPSC Prelims GS Paper I syllabus, under Modern History. It appeared in Prelims GS Paper I question papers in 4 of the 10 years from 2016 to 2025 (2016, 2018, 2020, 2022). It is marked high-yield: a topic worth revising more than once.

What should you study in Indian National Congress?

  • INC formation 1885 — A.O. Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji
  • Moderate demands — Bal-Pal-Lal vs moderates (Gokhale)
  • Swadeshi Movement & Partition of Bengal (1905)
  • Surat Split 1907 — moderates vs extremists

How often is Indian National Congress asked in UPSC Prelims?

Asked in 4 of 10 years, including 1 of the last 5. Highlighted years below are the ones it appeared in.

  1. 2016: asked
  2. 2017: not asked
  3. 2018: asked
  4. 2019: not asked
  5. 2020: asked
  6. 2021: not asked
  7. 2022: asked
  8. 2023: not asked
  9. 2024: not asked
  10. 2025: not asked

About the Prelims GS Paper I paper

General Studies Paper I is the Prelims paper that decides the cut-off: 100 multiple-choice questions for 200 marks, with negative marking for wrong answers. See all 88 Prelims GS Paper I topics.

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