Who persuaded Gandhiji to come to Champaran to investigate the problem of Indigo workers?

Correct option is D

The Champaran Satyagraha (1917) was Mahatma Gandhi's first non-violent resistance movement on Indian soil and a crucial turning point in the country's freedom struggle.

Information Booster

Indigo planters, mostly European, forced the local peasants in Bihar's Champaran district to cultivate indigo on three-twentieths (3/20th) of their land, a system known as tinakathia. This crop was often unprofitable for the farmers, who were bound by restrictive contracts.

The Persuader: Raj Kumar Shukla
Raj Kumar Shukla was a determined peasant from Champaran. He met Gandhi at the 1916 Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress, relentlessly urging him to visit the region and witness the plight of the indigo cultivators. Gandhi initially deferred but was eventually convinced by Shukla's persistence.

Key Associates
Upon reaching Champaran, Gandhi was joined by several prominent lawyers and intellectuals who would become his close associates and future national leaders. These included:
Rajendra Prasad (who later became the first President of India).
Acharya J.B. Kripalani.
Brij Kishore Prasad.
Mahadev Desai (Gandhi's private secretary).
Narhari Parikh.

Gandhi adopted his method of Satyagraha (truth force) by refusing to leave when ordered by the local British authorities. His organized inquiry into the farmers' conditions led the government to appoint a commission of inquiry.
The inquiry's report led to the passage of the Champaran Agrarian Act (1917-18), which abolished the tinakathia system and led to the planters compensating the peasants.
This success gave a huge psychological boost to the Indian national movement and established Gandhi as a leader of the masses.