Sentence Correction

While royal governor of New Jersey, William Franklin’s conviction that the colonies should remain part of England was not unlike that of his father Benjamin Franklin, who initially preferred a continued association with England, though he eventually played a role in forging America's independence, helping craft the Declaration of Independence after a change of heart

A. not unlike that of his father Benjamin Franklin, who initially preferred
B. not unlike his father Benjamin Franklin, who initially preferred
C. like his father Benjamin Franklin, and his initial preference
D. like that of his father Benjamin Franklin, for preferring
E. as that of his father Benjamin Franklin, who initially preferred

Ans : A

Is not unlike a right way to compare ??/

What's wrong with E ?

"As" is generally used to compare the clauses. Here we are comparing two noun father's conviction. We can discard choice (D), because it using " for prefering"....

Since , there is no choice with like keyword in the beginning and who prefered at the end, hence we need to accept the choice (A), although it has uses the redundant keyword "not like " instead of "like".....