Congress Ministries

Following the landslide victory in the provincial elections of 1937, the Indian National Congress (INC) formed ministries in eight out of eleven provinces in July 1937. This 28-month tenure represented the first sustained experience of provincial governance by nationalist forces under the structural framework of the Government of India Act 1935. The Congress High Command established a Central Parliamentary Board—consisting of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad—to supervise, regulate, and uniformize the policies of these provincial ministries from above.

Key Legislative and Administrative Achievements

Operating under the Provincial List of the 1935 Act, the ministries implemented a series of progressive socio-economic and administrative reforms.

Restoration of Civil Liberties

• The ministries repealed the emergency powers, public safety acts, and wartime ordinances enacted by the British to crush the Civil Disobedience Movement.
• The ban on political organizations, including the Congress Working Committee and youth leagues, was lifted, though the ban on the Communist Party of India (CPI) remained due to central imperial regulations.
• Confiscated properties, lands, and securities of nationalist newspapers were restored to their original owners.
• Police powers were substantially curtailed, and the system of using village headmen to gather political intelligence on nationalists was terminated.

Agrarian and Debt Relief Reforms

Labor Welfare and Social Reforms

• Industrial Relations: The Bombay Trade Disputes Act (1938) was enacted to mitigate industrial conflicts through compulsory arbitration, though it was criticized by leftists for restricting the unconditional right to strike.
• Educational Reforms: The ministries implemented the Wardha Scheme of Basic Education (Nai Talim), which prioritized vocational and craft-based primary education.
• Social Equality: Temple Entry Acts were passed in Madras and Bombay to remove historical socio-religious disabilities faced by Dalits (Harijans).
• Prohibition: Measures for total prohibition of liquor were introduced in select districts, notably in Salem (Madras) and Ahmedabad (Bombay).

Subhas Chandra Bose and the Ministerial Experiment

Subhas Chandra Bose’s interaction with the Congress ministries evolved from structural opposition to strategic direction during his tenure as Congress President.

The Haripura Directive on State Planning (1938)

Elected unanimously as Congress President for the Haripura Session (1938), Bose accepted the reality of the functioning ministries but sought to use their administrative apparatus for long-term state-building. In October 1938, Bose convened a conference of provincial Ministers of Industry and established the National Planning Committee (NPC), appointing Jawaharlal Nehru as its Chairman. Bose directed the ministries to coordinate their provincial budgets to promote heavy industrialization, resource mapping, and scientific research, clashing ideologically with Gandhi’s village-industry model.

Critique of Constitutional Stagnation (1939)

By 1939, Bose became highly critical of the ministries’ performance. He observed that the right-wing leadership was using state machinery to suppress radical peasant agitations (led by Swami Sahajanand Saraswati’s All India Kisan Sabha) and industrial strikes. In Kanpur and Bombay, Congress ministries deployed police forces and Section 144 to maintain public order against striking workers. Bose argued that the ministries were becoming institutionalized into the colonial structure. During the Tripuri Session (1939), he demanded that the ministries prepare for resignation to pave the way for an immediate six-month ultimatum to the British government, to be backed by a mass civil disobedience movement. This radical line led to a direct confrontation with the Gandhian faction, resulting in Bose’s resignation from the presidency and his formation of the All India Forward Bloc to organize an extra-parliamentary struggle.

Polarization and Internal Limitations

The functioning of the Congress ministries exposed significant political and communal vulnerabilities.

The Rise of Communal Tensions

The exclusion of the Muslim League from coalitions in provinces like the United Provinces accelerated communal polarization. Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League launched a concerted campaign against the ministries, appointing the Pirpur Committee (1938) to compile reports on alleged systemic discrimination and “Congress atrocities” against Muslims. Cultural initiatives by the ministries, such as the singing of Vande Mataram and the promotion of the Wardha Education Scheme, were portrayed by the League as attempts to impose Hindu culture.

Opportunism and Careerism

The acquisition of state power led to an influx of careerist elements into the lower rungs of the Congress party. Internal factionalism grew, and corruption in administrative appointments became a concern, prompting Mahatma Gandhi to write sharply against the “rot” setting into the organization due to ministerial power.

Resignation of the Ministries: The Imperial Crisis

The 28-month ministerial experiment came to an abrupt halt due to geopolitical factors external to India.

The Catalyst

On September 3, 1939, the United Kingdom declared war on Nazi Germany, initiating World War II. On the same day, Viceroy Lord Linlithgow declared India a belligerent party in the war effort without consulting the Central Legislative Assembly or any of the eleven elected provincial ministries.

The Ultimatum

The Congress Working Committee strongly protested this unilateral action, stating that a democratic nation could not be dragged into a war ostensibly fought for democratic freedoms while being denied those very freedoms itself. The Congress demanded an immediate declaration of British war aims and the establishment of a provisional national government at the center with real executive power.

The Resignation

When Viceroy Linlithgow issued a vague statement in October 1939 promising only dominion status in an indefinite future and proposing a consultative wartime committee, the Congress High Command rejected the offer. The Central Parliamentary Board directed all provincial ministries to resign. By November 1939, all eight Congress governments stepped down, bringing a definitive end to the era of provincial autonomy under the 1935 Act.

Historical Trivia

Following the mass exit of the Congress ministries, the Muslim League observed December 22, 1939, as the “Day of Deliverance” (Yaum-e-Najat) to celebrate freedom from what they termed “Congress rule.” This observation was formally supported by B.R. Ambedkar and the Justice Party of Madras.