Look at the given picture and answer the following questions:
Name the Viceroy who announced the plan for smooth transfer of power. Mention any two clauses of his plan with reference to the Princely States.
Topic: The Mountbatten Plan
Answer
The Viceroy was LORD LOUIS MOUNTBATTEN, the last Viceroy of India, and his plan of 3 June 1947 is known as the Mountbatten Plan.
Two clauses with reference to the Princely States: (1) British paramountcy over the Princely States would LAPSE with the transfer of power, and would not be transferred to either of the new Dominions. (2) Each Princely State was free to accede either to India or to Pakistan, having regard to its geographical position and the wishes of its people; no State would be granted Dominion Status of its own.
Three marks: one for the Viceroy and one for each clause. The question restricts you to the PRINCELY STATES, so clauses about the partition of Bengal and Punjab or the Boundary Commission earn nothing however accurate. The lapse of paramountcy is the crucial constitutional point: it left the States technically free, which is why Sardar Patel’s work in integrating them mattered so much. Mentioning that shows the consequence.