Mahatma Gandhi undertook fast unto death in 1932, mainly because

The correct answer is C. Ramsay MacDonald announced the Communal Award on 16 August 1932. It extended separate electorates to the Depressed Classes along with other communities. Gandhi objected that this would permanently divide Hindus, and he began his fast unto death at Yerwada jail on 20 September 1932. The fast ended after the Poona Pact of 24 September 1932, which gave the Depressed Classes reserved seats within a joint electorate.

• A) Wrong. The Second Round Table Conference ended in December 1931. Gandhi's fast was a reaction to a British decision, not to the conference's outcome. The Third RTC met later, in 1932.
• B) Wrong. Congress-League differences were real, especially over separate electorates for Muslims, but the fast was specifically against the Award's treatment of the Depressed Classes.
• D) Wrong, because C is correct.

The core concept is communal representation and the minority question, which runs from the Morley-Minto reforms to the Government of India Act 1935. For Mains, it links to the debate between Gandhi and Ambedkar on social justice versus separate political identity.

Trap: Candidates often pick A because the RTCs dominate 1930-32 questions. Others confuse the Communal Award with the Lucknow Pact of 1916.