In 1939, for the first time, Mahatma Gandhi adopted a special technique of conducting a controlled mass struggle in a princely state. He allowed one of his close associates to conduct Satyagraha. Who was that close associate?
In 1939, Mahatma Gandhi intervened in the Rajkot Satyagraha, a struggle for responsible government in the princely state of Rajkot. He delegated the leadership to his trusted lieutenant, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. When the Thakore Saheb of Rajkot went back on his promises, Gandhi himself went on a fast, resulting in a viceregal intervention that ensured the people’s participation in administration. ANSWER: (B) Vallabhbhai Patel in Rajkot
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The Rajkot struggle was a unique experiment in applying Satyagraha to the complex political environment of a princely state. Sardar Patel organized the local resistance against the autocratic rule of the Thakore. Gandhi viewed Rajkot as his “second home” and was deeply involved in the negotiations. The success of this “controlled struggle” proved that the principles of non-violence and mass mobilization could be successfully exported from British India to the semi-independent states, further uniting the diverse political units of the subcontinent under the Congress’s nationalist umbrella.