Who among the following was the founder member of Indian Association established in 1876?

Question

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 3:

The Indian Association (also known as the Indian National Association) was one of the most important pre-Congress political organizations in India. It was founded in Calcutta in 1876 by Surendranath Banerjee and **Anand Mohan Bose**. The primary objective of this association was to create a strong public opinion on political issues, promote Hindu-Muslim unity, and bring the masses into the fold of political movement. It actively campaigned against the reduction of the maximum age limit for the Indian Civil Service examination and advocated for the political interests of the educated middle class. Bose was a prominent barrister and an intellectual leader who, along with Banerjee, played a crucial role in laying the foundation for organized national politics in the decade leading up to the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885.

The incorrect option is 1:
P. Ananda Charlu was a prominent figure from South India who was one of the founding members of the Indian National Congress (1885). He was not a founder of the Indian Association established in 1876 in Calcutta, which preceded the Congress.

The incorrect option is 2:
Firoz Shah Mehta was a Parsi political leader and barrister from Bombay. Like P. Ananda Charlu, he was a key founding member of the Indian National Congress, but his political activities were primarily centered in Western India, and he was not associated with the establishment of the Indian Association in 1876.

The incorrect option is 4:
G. Subramania Iyer was a journalist and freedom fighter from Madras (Chennai). He is famously known as one of the key founders of The Hindu newspaper and was also a co-founder of the Madras Mahajana Sabha (1884), placing his foundational political work in the Southern Presidency rather than with the Calcutta-based Indian Association.