Consider the following statements about the early phase of the National Movement in India: 1. Ferozeshah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji and others formed the Bombay Presidency Association. 2. Surendranath Banerjee and his group planned an Indian National Conference at Calcutta. 3. Allan Octavian Hume decided to create an all-India body as a rival to the above organisations to give vent to the grievances of the poor and marginalised Indians. How many of the above statements is/are correct?

Statement 1 is correct as the Bombay Presidency Association was established in 1885 by Pherozeshah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji, and K.T. Telang [3]. Statement 2 is also correct; Surendranath Banerjee and Ananda Mohan Bose were the primary architects of the Indian National Conference, which held sessions in 1883 and 1885 in Calcutta as a precursor to an all-India body [1]. Statement 3 is incorrect because Allan Octavian Hume did not intend to create a 'rival' to these organizations. Instead, he collaborated with leading Indian intellectuals to mobilize a unified platform, leading to the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885 [4]. Furthermore, the early Congress primarily represented the educated middle class and intellectuals rather than focusing specifically on the grievances of the poor and marginalized as its primary objective [4].

Sources

1. [3] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bombay-Presidency-Association
2. [1] Rajiv Ahir. A Brief History of Modern India (2019 ed.). SPECTRUM. > Chapter 11: Indian National Congress: Foundation and the Moderate Phase > Foundation of Indian National Congress > p. 247
3. [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Indian_National_Congress