Assertion (A) : The Congress Ministries in all the provinces resigned in the year 1939. Reason (R) : The Congress did not accept the decision of the Viceroy to declare war against Germany in the context of the Second World War. Code:

Both Assertion and Reason are true, and the Reason correctly explains the Assertion. After Britain entered World War II in 1939, Viceroy Linlithgow declared India a belligerent without consulting elected Indian representatives; this unilateral declaration provoked strong resentment in the Congress and led the Congress Working Committee to decide that all Congress provincial ministries should resign in protest [1]. Negotiations between Congress leaders (including Gandhi and Rajendra Prasad) and the Viceroy failed, and the Congress ministries resigned in October 1939 as a direct response to the Viceroy’s action and refusal to offer assurances on India’s post‑war status and representative consultation [2].

Sources

1. [1] History , class XII (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 6: Communalism in Nationalist Politics > 6.5 Observation of Day of Deliverance > p. 79
2. [2] THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART III, History CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 11: MAHATMA GANDHI AND THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT > Fig. 11.10 > p. 302