From the Swaraj Party to Provincial Ministries (1922-1939)

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Swaraj Party

After Non-Cooperation was withdrawn, C.R. Das (president) and Motilal Nehru (secretary) formed the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party on 1 January 1923 to enter the councils and obstruct them from within. The no-changers, such as Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad and C. Rajagopalachari, preferred Gandhi's constructive programme. The Swarajists did well in the 1923 elections, and Vithalbhai Patel became the first Indian President (Speaker) of the Central Legislative Assembly in 1925, but the party weakened after Das died that year.

Simon Commission and Nehru Report

The Simon Commission was appointed in November 1927 to review the 1919 Act; its seven members, chaired by Sir John Simon and including Clement Attlee, were all British. Boycotted by the Congress, it met black flags and the slogan Simon Go Back from its arrival in Bombay on 3 February 1928. At Lahore, Lala Lajpat Rai was beaten in a police lathi-charge and died on 17 November 1928. Answering Birkenhead's challenge, an all-parties committee headed by Motilal Nehru produced the Nehru Report (August 1928), proposing dominion status, joint electorates with reserved seats for minorities, linguistic provinces and 19 fundamental rights. Jinnah answered with his Fourteen Points (1929), while younger leaders wanted complete independence.

Purna Swaraj and the Dandi March

The Lahore session of December 1929, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, declared Purna Swaraj (complete independence) the goal; the tricolour was hoisted on the bank of the Ravi on 31 December 1929, and 26 January 1930 was observed as Independence Day, which is why the Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950. When Viceroy Irwin ignored his eleven demands, Gandhi chose salt: he set out from Sabarmati Ashram with 78 followers on 12 March 1930 and broke the salt law at Dandi on 6 April 1930. Civil disobedience spread fast: C. Rajagopalachari marched to Vedaranyam in Tamil Nadu, and Sarojini Naidu led the raid on the Dharasana salt works; Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan's Khudai Khidmatgars (Red Shirts) were active in the North-West Frontier, where the Garhwal Rifles refused to fire on crowds at Peshawar, and Rani Gaidinliu led resistance in the north-east.

Gandhi-Irwin Pact and the Round Tables

The First Round Table Conference (1930-31) in London met without the Congress. The Gandhi-Irwin Pact of 5 March 1931 released political prisoners not convicted of violence, allowed coastal villagers to make salt for their own use and permitted peaceful picketing; the Congress in turn suspended civil disobedience and agreed to attend the next conference. The Karachi session (March 1931, Vallabhbhai Patel) endorsed the pact and passed resolutions on Fundamental Rights and a National Economic Programme. Gandhi was the sole Congress representative at the Second Round Table Conference (1931), which broke down over separate electorates for minorities. Civil disobedience resumed in 1932 under Viceroy Willingdon and was withdrawn in 1934. The Congress stayed away from the Third Round Table Conference (1932); B.R. Ambedkar attended all three.

Communal Award and Poona Pact

British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald announced the Communal Award on 16 August 1932, extending separate electorates to the depressed classes. Gandhi, in Yerawada jail at Poona, saw this as a division of Hindu society and began a fast unto death on 20 September 1932. The Poona Pact of 24 September 1932, between Gandhi and Ambedkar, replaced separate electorates for the depressed classes with joint electorates and raised their reserved seats in the provincial legislatures from 71 to 148. Gandhi then founded the Harijan Sevak Sangh (1932).

Act of 1935 and the 1937 elections

The Government of India Act 1935 brought provincial autonomy and proposed an All-India Federation that never came into being. In the provincial elections of early 1937 the Congress won majorities in Madras, the United Provinces, the Central Provinces, Bihar and Orissa, was the largest party in Bombay, and in time formed ministries in eight of the eleven provinces; the Muslim League fared poorly. The ministries resigned in October and November 1939 when Viceroy Linlithgow made India a party to the Second World War without consulting Indians, and the League celebrated a Day of Deliverance on 22 December 1939. Subhas Chandra Bose, president at Haripura (1938), was re-elected at Tripuri (1939) but resigned after differences with Gandhi and formed the Forward Bloc.

Bhagat Singh and the HSRA

The Hindustan Republican Association (1924) of Sachindranath Sanyal, Ramprasad Bismil and others carried out the Kakori train action of 9 August 1925, for which Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Roshan Singh and Rajendra Lahiri were hanged. In September 1928, at Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi, Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and others renamed it the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association. To avenge Lajpat Rai, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Azad shot the police officer Saunders at Lahore on 17 December 1928. On 8 April 1929 Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw harmless bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly against the Public Safety and Trade Disputes Bills and courted arrest, shouting Inquilab Zindabad. Jatin Das died after a 63-day hunger strike in Lahore jail in 1929; Azad fell in Alfred Park, Allahabad, on 27 February 1931; and Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged at Lahore on 23 March 1931.

Key facts

Swaraj Party: 1 January 1923, C.R. Das (president) and Motilal Nehru (secretary); council entry; Vithalbhai Patel the first Indian President of the Central Legislative Assembly (1925).
Simon Commission: appointed November 1927, seven British members under Sir John Simon (Attlee among them); reached Bombay 3 February 1928; Lala Lajpat Rai died after a lathi-charge at Lahore (17 November 1928).
Nehru Report, August 1928 (Motilal Nehru): dominion status, joint electorates, linguistic provinces, 19 fundamental rights; answered by Jinnah's Fourteen Points (1929).
Lahore session, December 1929 (Jawaharlal Nehru): Purna Swaraj; flag hoisted on the Ravi on 31 December 1929; 26 January 1930 the first Independence Day.
Dandi March: Sabarmati, 12 March 1930, with 78 followers; salt law broken at Dandi on 6 April 1930. Vedaranyam - Rajagopalachari; Dharasana - Sarojini Naidu; Red Shirts - Ghaffar Khan.
Gandhi-Irwin Pact, 5 March 1931: prisoners released, salt-making for coastal villages, civil disobedience suspended; Karachi session 1931 (Patel) passed the Fundamental Rights resolution.
Round Table Conferences: First 1930-31, Second 1931 (Gandhi attended), Third 1932; Ambedkar attended all three, the Congress only the second.
Communal Award 16 August 1932 (Ramsay MacDonald); Gandhi's fast in Yerawada; Poona Pact 24 September 1932 - joint electorate, 148 reserved seats instead of 71.
1937 elections: Congress ministries in eight provinces; resigned October-November 1939; the League's Day of Deliverance on 22 December 1939.
HSRA: Ferozeshah Kotla, September 1928; Assembly bomb 8 April 1929 (Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt); Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru hanged 23 March 1931.

Quick revision

Swaraj Party 1 Jan 1923 (Das, Motilal); Simon Commission Nov 1927, reached India 1928; Nehru Report Aug 1928; Lahore Dec 1929 Purna Swaraj; 26 Jan 1930 Independence Day; Dandi 12 Mar - 6 Apr 1930; Gandhi-Irwin Pact 5 Mar 1931; Round Tables 1930, 1931, 1932; Communal Award 16 Aug 1932; Poona Pact 24 Sep 1932; Act of 1935; Congress ministries 1937-39; Kakori 1925; HSRA 1928; Bhagat Singh hanged 23 Mar 1931

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