Write any two reasons for the acceptance of the Mountbatten Plan by the Congress.

(1) The COMMUNAL VIOLENCE that had followed Direct Action Day in 1946 had made the country ungovernable, and further continuation of British rule or further delay would have meant civil war and still greater calamity. (2) A SMALLER INDIA WITH A STRONG CENTRE was better than a bigger state with a weak centre. The League’s obstruction had shown that a united India would be unworkable, and partition would also rid the new Constitution of separate electorates.

One mark each, argued from the Congress point of view. The "smaller India with a strong Centre" argument is the one the examiners’ report looks for, and it is the reasoning Nehru and Patel actually used. The separate electorates point is a good third and is often omitted: partition removed the communal electorates that had poisoned Indian politics since 1909.