During Indian freedom struggle, the National Social Conference was formed. What was the reason for its formation?

The correct answer is B. In the late 1880s the Indian National Congress chose to keep social reform out of its own deliberations and concentrate on political demands. Reformers who wanted a forum for caste, widow remarriage, child marriage and female education therefore set up a separate body, the National Social Conference, in 1887, which met alongside Congress sessions. M.G. Ranade was its central figure.

• A is wrong: The Conference was an all-India body, not a Bengal grouping. Its purpose was to give social reform a national platform, not to merge regional bodies.
• C is wrong: Malabari was a prominent reformer, especially on the age-of-consent issue, but he was not the one who brought the social reform groups of the country together under this body. The misattribution is the trap here.
• D is wrong because B is correct.

The core concept is the split between political and social agendas in the national movement, and the Moderate-era debate over whether social reform should come before or after political freedom. This links directly to Mains questions on social reform movements and the relationship between Congress and reformers.

Trap: Candidates pick A because it sounds like a neat description of a 'united body', or pick C because it names famous reformers. Remember that the Conference was formed because Congress declined to take up social reform.