Spectrum Summary: Debates on the Future Strategy after the Civil Disobedience Movement | History for UPSC CSE PDF Download

• In 1934- 35, there was a debate among nationalists on the best course of action for the national movement. 
• Some argued for accepting office under the Government of India Act, of 1935, while others advocated for a non-mass struggle. 
• In 1937, provincial elections were held under the autonomy provisions of the Government of India Act, of 1935. 

• There were three different perspectives on what the nationalists should do after the Civil Disobedience Movement ended. 
• The first was that they should continue with constructive work on Gandhian lines. 
• The second was that they should participate in elections to the Central Legislature. 
• The third was that a strong leftist trend within the Congress, represented by Nehru, was critical of both of these things and argued that they would divert attention from the main issue of the struggle against colonialism. 

• Nehru said, 'The basic goal before Indian people as before people of the world is the abolition of capitalism and establishment of socialism.” 

• The S-T-S strategy, proposed by Gandhi, suggests that a mass phase of the movement (struggle phase) should be followed by a phase of reprieve (truce phase) before the next stage of mass struggle. 
• The truce period would enable the masses to recoup their strength and also give the government a chance to respond to the demands of the nationalists. 
• Nehru's counter-proposal, the S-V strategy, suggests that victory should be strived for instead of a truce. 

• In 1934, the Indian National Congress set up a Parliamentary Board to contest elections. 
• In the November 1934 elections to the Central Legislative Assembly, Congress captured 45 out of 75 seats reserved for Indians. 

Amidst the struggle of 1932, the Third RTC was held in November, again without Congress's participation. The discussions led to the formulation of the Act of 1935.

• The All India Federation was a proposed federation of Indian states that never came to fruition. 
• The federation was conditional on the fulfillment of two conditions: that states with the allotment of 52 seats in the proposed Council of States should agree to join the federation, and that the aggregate population of these states should be 50 percent of the total population of all Indian states. 
• Since these conditions were not met, the central government continued to operate under the provisions of the Government of India Act, of 1919. 

• The Constitution of India divided the subjects to be administered into reserved and transferred subjects, with the Governor-General in charge of the entire system. 
• He was responsible for the security and tranquillity of India and could act in his individual judgment to discharge his responsibilities. 

• The 1935 Indian Constitution created a bicameral legislature with an upper house (Council of States) and a lower house (Federal Assembly). 
• The Council of States was to be a 260-member House elected by direct vote, and the Federal Assembly was to be a 375-member house elected by indirect vote. 
• The Council of States was to be a permanent body with one-third of members retiring every third year, while the Federal Assembly was to have a five-year duration. 
• Three lists for legislation purposes were to be federal, provincial, and concurrent. 
• Members of the Federal Assembly could move a vote of no-confidence against ministers, but members of the Council of States could not. 
• The system of religion-based and class-based electorates was further extended, and 80 percent of the budget was non-votable. 
• The Governor-General was given residuary powers. 

• The Government of India Act of 1935 replaced dyarchy with provincial autonomy and gave provinces a separate legal identity. 
• Provinces were freed from the supervision of the secretary of state and governor-general, and they received independent financial powers and resources. 

• The Governor was to be the Crown's nominee and representative to exercise authority on the king’s behalf in a province. 
• The Governor was to have special powers regarding minorities, rights of civil servants, law and order, British business interests, partially excluded areas, princely states, etc. 
• The Governor could take over and indefinitely run the administration. 

• The Communal Award led to the establishment of separate electorates based on communal representation. 
• All members were to be directly elected and the franchise was extended to include women.
• Ministers were to administer all provincial subjects in a council of ministers headed by a premier.
• Ministers were made answerable to and removable by the adverse vote of the legislature.
• The provincial legislature could legislate on subjects in the provincial and concurrent lists.
• 40 percent of the budget was still not votable. -The governor could refuse assent to a bill, promulgate ordinances, and enact governor’s Acts. 

• The Government of India Act 1935 was an attempt to further the process of Indian self-government begun by the Government of India Act 1919.  
• The Act increased the autonomy of the Indian provinces, while still retaining the authority of the governor-general. 
• The Act enfranchised 14 percent of the British Indian population.  
• The Act provided a rigid constitution with no possibility of internal growth. 
• The right of the amendment was reserved with the British Parliament. 

• Repression was used to quell the Civil Disobedience Movement, and reforms were used to revive the political standing of constitutionalist liberals and moderates. 
• The strategy was to create dissensions within the Congress party in order to placate the right wing with constitutional concessions and crush the left wing with police measures.
• Provincial autonomy would create powerful provincial leaders who would gradually become autonomous centers of political power. 

The 1935 Act was condemned by nearly all sections and unanimously rejected by Congress.

• The left-wing of the Indian National Congress, led by Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Bose, and the Congress socialists and communists, were opposed to accepting offices under the 1935 Government of India Act. 
• They argued that this would negate the nationalists' rejection of the Act. 
• As a counter-strategy, the leftists proposed entering the councils with the aim of creating deadlocks, thus making the working of the Act impossible. 
• The proponents of office acceptance argued that they were equally committed to combating the 1935 Act, but that working in legislatures was to be only a short-term tactic. 

• The Congress manifesto reaffirmed the total rejection of the 1935 Act. Congress’ Performance, Congress won 716 out of the 1,161 seats it contested. It got a majority in all provinces, except in Bengal, Assam, Punjab, Sindh, and the NWFP.  
• The Congress Party had a very successful showing in the provincial elections of 1937. 
• They won a majority in all but five of the provinces in which elections were held. 
• The party's platform for rejecting the 1935 Act was reaffirmed in their election manifesto.