4 - Centre and province: Simla and the elections of 1945–46

Summary

Section 1

By 1945, Viceregal Lodge and the Congress were ready to have an interim government at the centre. In January, Bhulabhai Desai and Liaquat Ali Khan, leaders of their respective assembly parties in the central legislature, discussed a scheme by which the Congress and League would each have been given forty per cent of the seats in an interim government to be created under the existing constitution, but now to be Indian in composition with the exception only of the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief. A settlement at the centre for the long-term would be worked out after the interim government had taken office. Rule by Section 93 would come to an end and Congress would return to office in the provinces; and by agreement would include League representatives. For the time being, no elections would be called either at the centre or in the provinces. Desai's proposals gave Wavell hope of a way out of the deadlock. But when he saw the Viceroy, Desai was vague about Congress's readiness to give the League equal status in the interim government. Neither Jinnah nor Gandhi had endorsed the scheme. Both sides were keeping their options open. The Secretary of State had been right in fearing that Desai might ‘well be a stalking horse’.