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The Swaraj Party : In 1922 C.R. Das was elected president of the Congress at Gaya. He, Motilal Nehru, N.C. Kelkar, Ajmal Khan & Viṭhalbhai Patel (q.v.), seeing that the system of Diarchy introduced by the Act of 1921 gave only marginal portfolios to elected natives ministers, tabled a resolution to enter the new councils & adopt the tactics of Parnell to “mend or end” their constitution, in effect to adopt the policy of responsive cooperation to work from within, constitutionally proposed by Tilak at the Amritsar Congress of 1919. They expected carry the Congress since Gandhi was then in jail but Gandhi’s disciples Rajagopalachari (q.v.) & Rajendra Prasad managed to persuade the unthinking majority to reject it. Disgusted the five launched the Swaraj Party as a party within the Congress. ― In the special session of the Congress held in Delhi under Maulana Azad in September 1923, the key resolution “passed almost unanimously” adopted the plank of the Swaraj Party: by getting elected to the Central & Legislative Councils & “to make government by Councils impossible”. Swarajists contested the elections to the provincial & central assemblies in early 1924, & did extremely well, especially in Bengal & Maharashtra. At the all-India Legislative Assembly they found an ally in Jinnah’s party. Together they commanded a majority & demanded the release of all political prisoners, repeal of repressive laws, provincial autonomy & immediate summoning of a Round Table Conference to draw up a scheme for full control of the Councils over the Government. But in Feb.1924, following an attack of appendicitis Gandhi was released & immediately disrupted their progress. Nehru & Das tried in vain for his endorsement. Gandhi hustled them into a compromise by making Jawahar General Secretary of INC – fulfilling Tilak’s prediction in Dec.1919 at Amritsar [q.v.. s/a Motilal’s paper Independent] ― However in 1925, the Swaraj Party created a great fervour in the country & convinced Secretary of State Birkenhead (q.v.) to consider Das’s proposals in his public speech, “Swaraj & Dominion Status”, made as President of the Faridpur Conference on 2nd May. Birkenhead promised to announce London’s decision on 7 July. When, broken by his exertions Das passed away on 16 June. Motilal’s taking over the party’s reins was as good as Gandhi taking over due to Gandhi having taken Jawahar under his wings. When the party did well in the 1926 elections to the assemblies, Motilal got rid of his deputy Viṭhalbhai by getting him elected as the Speaker of the Central Assembly. Viṭhalbhai proved an effective Speaker. In April, Gandhi pulled the plug & the party ‘resigned’ from the Councils. The party’s peaceful path of parliamentary progress went into a coma. In 1927, on the pretext of Govt. not having granted immediate unqualified Dominion Status Gandhi took up his constructive programme of civil disruption, i.e., of restful jail-terms. On 2nd April 1934, fed up with Gandhi’s antics, the ineffectual intellectuals held a conference in Delhi to revive the Swaraj Party & resume the constitutional path. Chief among them were Dr. M.A. Ansari, Bidhān Chandra Roy, & Bhulābhai Desai (former Advocate-General of Bombay Presidency). Gandhi permitted them so that his antics could feed on the power that elected Swarajists would obtain. Then he undertook a countrywide tour to propagate his own programme & remind the masses of his authority. The Dec. 1934 Congress under Rajendra Prasad endorsed the neo-Swarajists’ programme & at the same time authorised J.C. Kumarappā to form an All-India Village Industries Association which would keep the crushing power of the masses in Gandhi’s hands – a magic whistle by which he could throw the Swarajists out of the assemblies any time he chose. [Bhattacharya; Durga Das, India-From Curzon to Nehru & After, 1969]