Which one of the following is not a political method of the moderates in the National Movement ?

The correct answer is A, Overthrow of alien rule. The Moderates, who led the Indian National Congress from 1885 to about 1905, did not seek to overthrow British rule; they believed in its basic fairness and wanted reforms within it. Leaders such as Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Surendranath Banerjee and W. C. Bonnerjee worked through constitutional agitation, which meant petitions, prayers, memoranda, speeches and resolutions within the law, an approach their critics called the "3 Ps". They believed in slow, orderly political progress, step by step, and asked for more Indians in the legislative councils and services, the separation of the judiciary from the executive and lower military spending. They tried to educate and mobilise public opinion in India through newspapers and meetings, and in Britain through bodies like the British Committee of the Congress. Option B is wrong because constitutional agitation was their main method. Option C is wrong because slow, orderly progress was their stated aim. Option D is wrong because mobilising public opinion was central to their work. Exam tip: Moderates sought reform within British rule; the demand to end alien rule came later with the Extremists and Gandhi.