Consider the following statements: ​ 1. The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 recommended granting voting rights to all the women above the age of 21 . ​ 2. The Government of India Act of 1935 gave women reserved seats in legislature. ​ Which of the statements given above is/are correct? ​

Statement 2 is correct and statement 1 is wrong, so the answer is B. The core concept is how women's political representation developed under colonial constitutional reforms.

• Statement 1 is wrong. The Montagu-Chelmsford Report (1918) did not recommend women's franchise. It left the question to the provincial legislatures, and the Southborough Committee's work did not change this. Madras extended the vote to women in 1921, and other provinces followed.
• Statement 2 is correct. The Government of India Act, 1935 provided seats reserved for women in both provincial and federal legislatures. These were general seats for women, not communal electorates.

For Mains, trace this line from the 1919 and 1935 Acts to Article 243D (reservation of seats for women in Panchayats) and the Women's Reservation Act, 2023 (106th Amendment), which reserves one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. That law's implementation is tied to the census and delimitation, so check its current status before answering.

Trap: Assuming the 1919 reforms gave women the vote at the national level. Aspirants often confuse a recommendation that was left to the provinces with a central grant of franchise.