Who amongst the following had demanded first the dominion status for india?

The answer is C, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru and M.R. Jayakar. As moderate Liberal leaders, they were among the earliest prominent voices to demand dominion status, meaning self-government within the British Empire on the model of Canada or Australia. Their stance came in the 1920s, when the Simon Commission was being planned, well before the Nehru Report.

Why the others are weaker:

• A: Rajagopalachari and Patel were Congress organisers in the non-cooperation phase. Their goal was swaraj, not an early dominion-status demand.
• B: Motilal Nehru endorsed dominion status mainly through the Nehru Report of 1928, which came after the Liberal demand. Pant is not associated with this early demand.
• D: Jawaharlal Nehru rejected dominion status at the Lahore session of 1929 and moved to purna swaraj. Jagjivan Ram was not an early advocate.

Core concept: dominion status versus purna swaraj, which is central to the 1920s constitutional debate and to the path from the Simon Commission to the Round Table Conferences. A Mains answer can use this to trace the shift in Congress demands.

Trap: aspirants pick B because the Nehru Report is the most famous dominion-status document. Check the word 'first' before choosing the report.