15+ Important Second Round Table Conference MCQs with Answers
1. The Second Round Table Conference was held in _____.
Correct Answer: B. London (September–December 1931)
Explanation: The Second Round Table Conference was held in London from September to December 1931. It was the only one of the three Round Table Conferences attended by the Indian National Congress, represented solely by Mahatma Gandhi.
2. The Indian National Congress was represented at the Second Round Table Conference by _____.
Correct Answer: C. Mahatma Gandhi (as the sole Congress representative)
Explanation: Gandhi attended the Second Round Table Conference as Congress’s sole official representative, following the Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 1931) which committed Congress to participate. Gandhi’s insistence on being Congress’s only representative reflected his position as the undisputed Congress leader at the time.
3. Gandhi attended the Second Round Table Conference claiming to represent _____.
Correct Answer: C. All of India including Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits, and other minorities
Explanation: Gandhi controversially claimed to represent all Indians – not just Congress members. This claim was immediately challenged by Muslim League representatives, Sikh leaders, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (representing Dalits), and other minority representatives, who insisted on separate representation for their communities.
4. The main issue on which the Second Round Table Conference deadlocked was _____.
Correct Answer: C. The question of minority representation – Gandhi opposed separate electorates for Muslims, Sikhs, and Dalits
Explanation: The Second Round Table Conference failed primarily because no agreement was reached on minority representation. Gandhi opposed separate electorates for all minority communities. Muslim League leaders, Sikh representatives, and Dr. Ambedkar (for Untouchables) all demanded special representation – creating an irreconcilable deadlock.
5. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s role at the Second Round Table Conference was _____.
Correct Answer: C. Representing the “Depressed Classes” (Untouchables/Dalits) and demanding separate electorates for them
Explanation: Dr. B.R. Ambedkar represented the “Depressed Classes” (Dalits/Untouchables) at the Second Round Table Conference and powerfully argued for separate electorates for Dalits – directly confronting Gandhi’s claim to represent all Hindus including Untouchables. This conflict led to the famous Poona Pact (September 1932).
6. The result of the Second Round Table Conference for Congress was _____.
Correct Answer: C. Complete failure – Gandhi returned to India empty-handed with no agreement reached
Explanation: The Second Round Table Conference was a complete failure for Congress. Gandhi could not obtain an agreement on minority representation, could not secure commitments on Dominion Status timeline, and failed to prevent Britain from giving minorities separate electorates. Gandhi returned to India in December 1931 without any significant achievement.
7. The Muslim League’s position at the Second Round Table Conference was _____.
Correct Answer: B. Demanding separate Muslim electorates, federal safeguards, and one-third Muslim seats in the central legislature
Explanation: Muslim League representatives at the Second Round Table Conference (the League was represented despite Jinnah’s self-exile in England at the time) maintained their standard demands: separate electorates, at least one-third Muslim seats in the central legislature, constitutional safeguards for Muslim culture and religion, and provincial autonomy.
8. The Second Round Table Conference was presided over by _____.
Correct Answer: A. British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald
Explanation: The Second Round Table Conference was presided over by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, who headed the National Government coalition. MacDonald later issued the “Communal Award” (August 1932) when the Conference failed to produce an agreed minority representation formula.
9. After the failure of the Second Round Table Conference, the British issued the “Communal Award” in 1932, which _____.
Correct Answer: C. Granted separate electorates to Muslims, Sikhs, and Dalits (Depressed Classes) – unilaterally by the British since India’s leaders couldn’t agree
Explanation: Since the Second Round Table Conference failed to produce an agreed minority representation formula, British PM Ramsay MacDonald issued the Communal Award (August 1932) unilaterally granting separate electorates to Muslims, Sikhs, and Dalits. Gandhi protested the Dalit separate electorate with a “fast unto death,” leading to the Poona Pact.
10. The Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar’s connection to the Second Round Table Conference was _____.
Correct Answer: B. He attended the First Round Table Conference and died in London in January 1931 before the Second began
Explanation: Maulana Muhammad Ali Johar attended the First Round Table Conference (1930–31) and died in London in January 1931 – just before Gandhi arrived for the Second Conference. His death in London was deeply symbolic for Indian Muslims, and he was buried in Jerusalem as per his wish to be buried in a free Muslim land.
11. Gandhi’s famous meeting with King George V at Buckingham Palace during the Second Round Table Conference is remembered because _____.
Correct Answer: B. Gandhi wore only his dhoti (loincloth), and when asked if he had enough clothes, reportedly said “The King had enough on for both of us”
Explanation: Gandhi’s appearance at Buckingham Palace in his simple dhoti (loincloth) and shawl was a media sensation in Britain. When reporters asked if he had enough clothes for the royal meeting, Gandhi reportedly made his witty reply about the King having “enough on for both of us” – a famous example of Gandhi’s political use of personal simplicity as a symbol of Indian dignity.
12. The Second Round Table Conference’s failure ultimately led to _____.
Correct Answer: C. The Communal Award (1932) and the Government of India Act 1935, which institutionalized separate electorates
Explanation: Because the Second Round Table Conference could not produce an agreed constitution, the British government proceeded to make its own decisions: the Communal Award (1932) determined minority representation, and these arrangements were incorporated into the Government of India Act 1935 – the constitutional framework under which the crucial 1937 and 1946 elections were held.
13. The Second Round Table Conference was different from the First because _____.
Correct Answer: A. Congress participated in the Second (not the First), as a result of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact
Explanation: The First Round Table Conference (1930–31) was boycotted by Congress because it was launched while Civil Disobedience was ongoing. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact (March 1931) committed Congress to attend the Second Round Table Conference in exchange for suspension of Civil Disobedience – making Congress’s participation in the Second Conference unique.
14. Gandhi’s impact on British public opinion during the Second Round Table Conference was _____.
Correct Answer: B. Mixed but powerful – he attracted enormous public attention, sympathy from many British, but hostility from Churchill and hardline conservatives
Explanation: Gandhi’s London visit attracted massive media attention. He visited working-class textile communities in Lancashire (whose mills suffered from India’s boycott of British cloth, causing unemployment) and won their respect, visited Charlie Chaplin, and spoke to British audiences. But Winston Churchill refused to meet him and called him a “half-naked fakir.”
15. The significance of the Round Table Conferences (1930–32) overall for Pakistan’s history is _____.
Correct Answer: C. They demonstrated that an agreed Hindu-Muslim constitutional settlement was impossible and their failure paved the way for the Government of India Act 1935 and ultimately for partition
Explanation: The Round Table Conferences collectively demonstrated the impossibility of reaching an agreed constitutional formula acceptable to both Congress and Muslim/minority interests. Their failure forced the British to impose the Communal Award and draft the Government of India Act 1935 unilaterally – setting in motion the chain of events (1937 elections, Congress rule, League reorganization) that led to partition.