No-Changers Programme

The suspension of the Non-Cooperation Movement in February 1922 following the Chauri Chaura incident led to a severe demoralization within the Indian National Congress (INC). With Mahatma Gandhi arrested and sentenced to six years in prison, the nationalist movement faced an ideological crisis regarding the future course of action. This led to a internal division within the Congress during the Gaya Session of December 1922, splitting the leadership into two distinct factions: the Swarajists (Pro-Changers) and the No-Changers.

Ideological Split: Pro-Changers vs. No-Changers

The debate centered on whether to boycott the legislative councils established under the Government of India Act 1919 or to enter them to wreck the colonial administration from within.

The No-Changers Programme: Core Objectives and Execution

The No-Changers opposed council entry, arguing that legislative participation would breed opportunism, weaken revolutionary zeal, and divert attention from the masses. Instead, they focused entirely on the Constructive Programme, which laid the socioeconomic groundwork for the next phase of the freedom struggle.

Promotion of Khadi and Village Industries

• Charkha Movement: The propagation of hand-spun cloth (Khadi) was used as a tool for economic self-reliance and a direct boycott of foreign textiles.
• Rural Employment: Spinning provided a subsidiary source of income to the peasantry during lean agricultural seasons.

National Education Drive

• Establishment of Institutions: No-Changers established national schools, colleges, and universities independent of government control and funding.
• Key Institutions: Prominent centers included the Kashi Vidyapeeth, Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Bihar Vidyapeeth, and Jamia Millia Islamia.
• Objective: To provide education free from colonial indoctrination and to train young cadres for the nationalist movement.

Social Reform and Eradication of Untouchability

• Anti-Untouchability Campaign: Leaders worked extensively for the social integration of Depressed Classes, opening wells, temples, and schools to them.
• Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25): Strongly supported by No-Changers, this movement in Travancore targeted temple-entry and the removal of untouchability.
• Communal Harmony: Efforts were made to bridge the growing rift between Hindus and Muslims through joint local committees and peace propagation.

Campaign Against Alcoholism and Intoxicants

• Picketing Action: Organised peaceful picketing of liquor shops to curtail government excise revenue and reduce domestic distress in working-class families.

Organization of Labor and Peasantry

• Bardoli Ashram: Under Vallabhbhai Patel, ashrams were used to organize Bardoli peasants against unjust land revenue assessments, laying the foundation for the Bardoli Satyagraha of 1928.

The Swarajist Programme: Council Entry and Obstruction

Following the formation of the Congress-Khilafat Swarajya Party in January 1923 (with C.R. Das as President and Motilal Nehru as Secretary), the Pro-Changers contested the November 1923 elections.

Legislative Achievements of the Swarajists

• Election Outcomes: The Swarajists won 42 out of 101 elected seats in the Central Legislative Assembly and secured a clear majority in the Central Provinces.
• Coalition Building: In the Central Assembly, Motilal Nehru forged alliances with Independent members and the Nationalist Party led by Madan Mohan Malaviya and Jinnah.
• Defeating Government Legislation: The Swarajists repeatedly outvoted the government on budget grants and successfully rejected the Public Safety Bill in 1928, which aimed to deport foreign communist agitators.
• Constitutional Demands: In 1924, Motilal Nehru introduced a resolution demanding the framing of a new constitution by a representative Round Table Conference, which directly led to the appointment of the Muddiman Committee to examine the defects of the 1919 Act.

Key Institutional Positions Held by Swarajists

• Vithalbhai Patel: Elected as the first Indian Speaker (President) of the Central Legislative Assembly in 1925.
• C.R. Das: Elected as the Mayor of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, using local governance to appoint nationalists to civic administrative positions.

Synthesis: The Compromise and Complementary Nature

To prevent another disastrous split like the 1907 Surat Split, the two factions maintained institutional unity under the overarching umbrella of the Congress.

The Belgaum Session (1924)

• Presided over by Mahatma Gandhi, this session formally ratified an agreement where the Swarajists would function as the legislative wing of the Congress, while the No-Changers retained control over the organizational and constructive machinery.

Symbiotic Impact on the National Movement

• Maintaining Morale: The Swarajists kept the political atmosphere charged at the center and provinces during a period when open mass rebellion was impossible.
• Grassroots Penetration: The No-Changers built a disciplined network of cadres, ashrams, and national schools in rural interiors. This organizational framework was crucial for mobilizing the masses during the subsequent Civil Disobedience Movement (1930).

Prelims-Specific Fact File and Trivia

• The Gaya Session (1922): Presided over by C.R. Das. The defeat of the council entry proposal at this session prompted Das and Motilal Nehru to resign from their posts and form the Swaraj Party.
• Responsive Cooperators: A sub-faction within the Swarajists (including N.C. Kelkar, Madan Mohan Malaviya, and Lala Lajpat Rai) split from the main group in 1925, advocating cooperation with the government to protect Hindu interests.
• Public Safety Bill (1928): Defeated by the casting vote of Speaker Vithalbhai Patel, marking a historic legislative victory against colonial repression.