The reason for the Resignation of Congress Ministries in 1939, include:
- Propaganda by Communal Parties
- There was a malicious propaganda carried out against the Congress by the Communal parties.
- They accused the Congress of discrimination against the minorities, but such propaganda was carried out due to political and communal overtones, rather than on factual basis.
- Opportunists swept advantages to office
- At this time, many opportunists joined the Congress during this period in order to seek advantages of office.
- Congress was aware of such characters, and Gandhi wrote frankly about corruption in the Congress in his paper Harijan.
- Further, in many regions a drive was made to free the Congress from such elements
- Issues related to the President ship of the Congress
- During this period, the Congress held two sessions. The Fifty First session was held at Haripura in February, 1938 under the president ship of Subhas Chandra Bose. This session passed a number of resolutions related to international affairs as well as on the internal situation in Indi
- However, it was at the next session (Tripuri) that the Congress faced a major crisis. This time an election was held for the President and Bose defeated Pattabhi Sitaramayya by 1580 to 1377 votes.
- This was regarded as a victory of the Left Wing
- Even Gandhiji regarded this defeat as his own defeat.
- Further, there were problem in the formation of the working committee and ultimately Bose resigned from the President ship.
- Inclusion of India to World War 2
- Viceroy Linlithgow declared India at war with Britain in 1939
- The Congress objected strongly to the declaration of war without prior consultation with Indians
- The Congress Working Committee suggested that it would cooperate if there a central Indian national government were formed, and a commitment were made to India’s independence after the war
- However, the government did not come up with any satisfactory response
- As a result, the Congress Ministries resigned office in November, 1939 on the ground that the Viceroy on its own had made India a participant in the imperialist war without consulting the Congress.
Eventually, the Muslim League under Jinnah celebrated this as ‘deliverance day’ whereas the nationalists stood behind the Congress and the subsequent events led to the Individual Satyagraha in 1900 and the Quit India movement in 1942, besides Bose going aboard and leading the Azad Hind Fauj.
