Which one of the following observations is not true about the Quit India Movement of 1942?

The correct answer is D. The statement that the Quit India Movement did not attract the labour class in general is the one that is untrue.

• A (non-violent) is true in intent. Gandhi's call of 8 August 1942 at Bombay was for a non-violent mass struggle, though the Do or Die slogan and the ensuing outbursts of violence in parts of the country were real.
• B (led by Gandhi) is a broadly accepted description. The movement was launched on his call, although he and the Congress Working Committee were arrested on 9 August, so it had no top-level leadership on the ground.
• C (spontaneous) is partly true. The mass upsurge after the arrests was largely spontaneous, which is why it lacked organisation.
• D is false. Labour did join in large numbers. There were strikes and hartals in Ahmedabad textile mills, Jamshedpur, Kanpur and parts of Bombay, even though the Communist Party and the AITUC stayed out.

The core concept is the shift from constitutional agitation to mass mobilisation, and it links to the Mains theme of the role of peasants, workers and students in the freedom struggle.

Trap: Many aspirants pick C, reasoning that a movement with no leaders cannot be spontaneous. The sharper point is that D is a sweeping claim that the labour record contradicts.