Efforts to Bridge the Congress–League Divide (1940–1945)

🧩 The Core Issue

By the early 1940s, the British position was weakening, and it became obvious that India’s freedom was only a matter of time.
But freedom had to mean something concrete — a united India or a partitioned subcontinent?

The challenge now was to reconcile two competing visions:

• The Indian National Congress, representing one united, secular nation, and
• The All-India Muslim League, which increasingly claimed to speak for India’s Muslims as a separate political community.

🕌 The Muslim League’s Growing Strength

1940: Lahore Resolution

• In March 1940, at its Lahore session, the League passed a resolution demanding autonomy for Muslim-majority areas in the north-west and north-east.
• Importantly, this resolution did not explicitly mention “Pakistan.”
  It simply sought “independent states” for Muslims — leaving room for political flexibility.

1942–44: League’s Expansion During Quit India Period

• After 1942, when Congress leaders were imprisoned, Jinnah and the League worked relentlessly to fill the political vacuum.
• They built support in provinces like Punjab and Sindh, where earlier they had little influence.
• The term “Pakistan” now became a popular political slogan.
• Jinnah successfully projected himself as the sole spokesman of Indian Muslims — a position that even the British began to accept.

🤝 Attempts at Reconciliation — Three Major Efforts

Even in this tense atmosphere, some leaders on both sides sincerely tried to bridge the gap. The main initiatives were:

1. Rajaji Formula (or C.R. Formula) – April 1944
2. Gandhi–Jinnah Talks – September 1944
3. Desai–Liaquat Pact – January 1945

Let’s look at each one in sequence.

📜 The Rajaji (C.R.) Formula — April 1944

The initiative came from C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), a respected Congress statesman and former colleague of Gandhi.
He believed that a settlement with the League was essential before independence, otherwise the country might face communal division and chaos later.

🔹 Key Provisions of the C.R. Formula

1. The Muslim League should support the Indian demand for independence and cooperate with Congress to form a Provisional Interim Government during the transition.
2. After the war, a plebiscite (referendum) would be held in Muslim-majority areas of the north-west and north-east, using adult suffrage, to decide whether they wanted to form a separate sovereign state.
3. If separation occurred, both sides would sign mutual agreements on common subjects like defence, communication, and commerce.
4. These arrangements would be binding only after Britain fully transferred power to Indian hands.

⚖️ Analysis

• The formula implicitly accepted the possibility of Pakistan, even though it did not use the word.
• Many Congress leaders (like Patel and Nehru) were uncomfortable — they felt this amounted to conceding partition.
• Yet Gandhi saw it as a realistic compromise, and used it as the basis for direct talks with Jinnah.

🗣️ The Gandhi–Jinnah Talks — September 1944

Background

• After being released from Aga Khan Palace in June 1944, Gandhi sought to rebuild unity.
• In September, he met Jinnah in Bombay, and the two leaders held a series of meetings to find common ground.

Gandhi’s Offer

• Gandhi presented the Rajaji Formula as his proposal.
• He said: Let us together demand immediate British withdrawal; afterwards, Muslims can decide their own destiny through a plebiscite.

Jinnah’s Response

• Jinnah rejected the proposal outright.
• His reasoning was clear:
  • The League would not support any move that linked independence with unity.
  • He demanded that the Congress first recognise Pakistan as a separate nation — before independence, not after.

Result

• The talks ended without agreement.
• Despite their personal courtesy, both sides walked away firm in conviction — Gandhi still hoped for unity; Jinnah was now convinced that only partition could guarantee Muslim security.

🤝 The Desai–Liaquat Pact — January 1945

Even after the failure of the Gandhi–Jinnah talks, efforts continued quietly at other levels.

Background

• Bhulabhai Desai, a senior Congress leader and lawyer, met Liaquat Ali Khan, the Muslim League’s leader in the Central Legislative Assembly.
• Their discussion aimed to prepare a joint interim government at the Centre — a shared cabinet of Congress and League representatives.

🔹 Main Points of the Pact

1. In the interim government:
   • Congress and League would have equal representation.
   • 20 percent of seats would be reserved for minorities.
2. In return, the League would drop its immediate demand for Pakistan and cooperate in forming a national government.

🚫 Why It Failed

• Neither leader had formally consulted their party organisations.
• When news leaked, both sides denied official approval.
• Still, according to M.C. Setalvad, Desai’s close friend and biographer, Bhulabhai had acted with Gandhi’s knowledge and consent, though without an official Congress mandate.

🧭 The Larger Context — Why All Efforts Failed

Despite sincere attempts, these initiatives collapsed because:

1. Trust had completely broken down — Congress doubted the League’s mass base, and the League doubted Congress’s ability to protect Muslim interests.
2. Jinnah’s strategy had changed — he wanted Pakistan first, negotiation later.
3. British policy subtly encouraged division — “divide and quit” was easier than “quit and unite.”
4. War and imprisonment had paralysed Congress leadership; the League used that time to strengthen itself politically and psychologically.

🕊️ Summary Table

Initiative	Year	Key Proposer	Main Idea	Outcome
C.R. (Rajaji) Formula	1944	C. Rajagopalachari	Independence first; plebiscite in Muslim-majority areas later	Jinnah rejected
Gandhi–Jinnah Talks	1944	Gandhi & Jinnah	Based on C.R. Formula	Failed — League insisted on pre-declared Pakistan
Desai–Liaquat Pact	1945	Bhulabhai Desai & Liaquat Ali Khan	Equal representation in interim govt	No formal acceptance

💡 Analytical Insight

The efforts to bridge the gap were morally noble but politically doomed.
By this stage:

• The Congress was still fighting for India’s independence as one nation.
• The Muslim League was fighting for Pakistan as a precondition to independence.

The two objectives had become mutually exclusive.

Yet these failed attempts were not wasted — they laid bare the depth of the division, helping later British missions (like the Simla Conference, 1945 and Cabinet Mission, 1946) understand the true fault line in Indian politics.