In which of the following sessions of Indian National Congress, the word ‘Swaraj’ was uttered from the Congress platform for the first time ?

The answer is B) Calcutta Session, 1906. Dadabhai Naoroji, presiding over the 1906 session, used the word 'Swaraj' from the Congress platform, asking for self-government on the lines of the self-governing British colonies. It was the first official use of the term in a Congress presidential address, and the session also adopted the four resolutions (swadeshi, boycott, national education, swaraj) that the Congress came to be associated with.

• Banaras 1905 (A): Presided over by G.K. Gokhale. The session is remembered for the Swadeshi and boycott resolutions after the Bengal partition, but the word Swaraj was not used from the platform there.
• Surat 1907 (C): The session ended in the split between Moderates and Extremists and never completed its agenda. It did not introduce Swaraj for the first time.
• D (None): Wrong, because Calcutta 1906 is the correct session.

The core concept is the evolution of the Congress demand, from petitioning for reforms to demanding self-government. This links to the Mains theme of the Moderate-Extremist phase and the growth of mass politics before 1915.

Trap: Candidates often link Swaraj with Tilak's 'Swaraj is my birthright' (1916) or the Home Rule Leagues, and so pick Surat or Banaras because of the 1905-07 agitation.