Subhas was attacked with suspected TB

 (The Indian National Congress medicare mission team for China. This August 1938 snap shows (from left) Atul Kumar, Subhas Bose, Debesh Mukherje, Dr Ramen Sen and Dr Sunil Chander Bose., extreme right)
After six weeks in Mandalay on Nov 17 1925, Subhas was writing to Sarat of,, ' the extreme lethargy induced by a disease which I can best describe as dyspepsia-cum-"flu". He never felt physically well kin Burma, and from these early weeks , he continued to ask for a transfer to a healthier place. The prison superintendent was usually also a doctor and frequent checks were made on the health of a prisoner, though the complaints were viewed with a skeptical eye. Subhas' Doctor brother Sunil(pic-right) came to examine him in February 1926, and Subhas tried to find the best course for himself after hearing the advice of Sunil , the prison doctor, and also an Ayurvedic doctor in Calcutta with whom he was constantly in touch . In Dec. 1926 the prison officials were seriously concerned enough to send him to Rangoon for a more thorough examination . He had a continual fever and his weight was down about 161 pounds in early 1925 to 138 pounds . Sarat was quite upset about Subhas' health and could no longer keep secret the details from theirv father since articles about it were appearing in the press. Janakinath was prepared to make the journey to Burma with Sarat in late 1926, but the trip was put off.
In Feb 1926, Subhas was brought to the Rangoon Central Jail and permanently removed from Mandalay while officials and doctors tried to decide what to do for and about him. Sunil came to examine him again. He learned thagt one of the other prisoners in Mandalay had tuberculosis and found that Subhas had some of the symptoms of the disease . Sunil suggested that Subhas be allowed to go to Switzerland for treatment. The govt. doctors did not agree with this diagonosis, but considered the suggestion about sending him abroad.
While the matter was being debated , Subhaas ran into difficulties with the chief jailor and superintendent of the Rangoon Central Jail . Subhas had sent a note to the chief jailor asking for his customery morning news paper and was notified by the Superintendent . Major Flowerdew , that he was not to give orders to the chief jailor. Subhas then wrote to the Governor of Burma.

The numerous pinpricks of long months imprisonment and his poor health added to his anger about this small incident. He may have been overreacting, bt he demanded to be transferred With this wish the authorities shortly complied , moving him to Insein Jail, just outside Rangoon, late in March.

 

Meanwhile the Government of Bengal in consultation with the Govt. of India laid down terms for the release Subhas Bose, including that he was to go from jail to a boat bound for Europe and not come back before the expiration of the Bengal ordinance in 1930. On the Government side, the viceroy explained the view in India in a communication to the secretary of State of April 9 1927,

While the Governments of Bengal and India Office were considering the matter, Subhas was writing to Sarat,






Subhas went on explain to Sarat what his brother already knew and what even intelligence officers confirmed ; he was not a communist revolutionary. Hewrote

In listing and explaining all the reasons why he could not accept the Government of Bengal's offer, one of the most powerful had to do with his attachment to his family. He wrote to sarat (as he also explained to the government in rejecting the offer);

In May Subhas received an order of transfer from Inseinfrom Insein to Almorain the United Provinces where prisoners with tuberculosis were often sent for rehabilitation . Subhas writes of the next devlopments;

 

Bengal Legislaive Council Election-1926

Subhas won the Bengal Legislative Election fro prison.
In 1926, Sarat Bose decided to run for the Legislative Council and choose  the Calcutta University seat as  th one he should stand . Then the question arose arose as to whether Subhas would run for the Council from the prison At first he decided that it involved too many difficulties and was  not sure he wanted to become a member even if he could be elected through the electioneering effort of others. After many persuasive letters Sarat won Subhas over to what they called an old Irish strategy employed against the British. " Voice him in to get him out". Sarat assured Subhas that J.M.Sengupta band Kiran Sankar Roy - the official BPCC leadership - as well as the Karmi Sangha heartily supported his candidacy.
Initially Sarat thought that both he and Subhas might run opposed He for the University Seat and Subhas for the North Calcutta Non-Muhammadan seat. Eventually, however , both were opposed. Subhas by J.N.Basu, a liberal Party Leaderwho had defeated the Swaarajist candidatefor the same seat in 1923. Sarat was gradually finding out which aspects of political game he would most like to play and could play well.Organising election campaigns was one of these areas in which the direct and open competition for votes called forth his aggressive, argumentative , and emotional traits and in which he came to flourish.With Subhas behind bars , Sarat had to organise both campaigns. Subhas wanted processions and public meetings on his behalf . He wrote of the efforts for him. 'Modern electioneering methods were used by the party, including the use of rockets for distributing leaflets and posters showing the candidate behind the prison bars. The government of Bengal refusd to release Subhas' election manifesto addressed to the voters of North Calcutta. Sarat wrote to his ..."Your election manifesto has been withheld and the reason assigned by the deputy Secretary, Political department for withholding is that political prisoners are not allowedc to nissue appeals to the Public."
In his own election letter to potential voters, Sarat Bose portrayed himself as a congress man and a humble camp-follower of our late leader deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das. He said that the larger kissue behind the campaign was the freedom of the Country. Shrewdly using the words of the late renowned Vice-chancello Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee that the relations between tghe University and the government should be governed by , "freedom First, freedom second, freedom Third" , Sarat continued.
" MyAlma Mater has as its motto - "Advancement of Learning", I feel this is not the motto of the University alone, but a national motto, the battle-cry of our struggling militant nationalism seeking ever to express itself and to fulfill itself against the forces of injustice, oppression,squalor, poverty and ignorance. 'Freedom and advancement' - that is the problem for youan me and I can assure you bin all humanity that to the solution of that problem I shall direct all my thoughts and actions, and bend all the force of my education and understanding in even a larger measure than I have been able vto do a Managing Director of 'Forward' and as an Alderman of the Corporation of Calcutta. This is the National problem and to its solution , the University , the lecture hall, the press, the platform and the Council chamber must all co-ordinate their resources."
The voting took place on November , 17,1926, and Subhas won a large majority . Sarat too was handily elected.          
  

Subhas in Mandalay jail (contd-3)

In April 1925, Sarat Chandra Bose went to Mandalay s-tosee his brother in wooden prison.This gave him a better  knowledge of Subhas' life in Jail, his needs and complaints.
Subhas wrote a letter to her daughter-in-law (wife of Sarat Chandra Bose )
" Our household is not of mean size. The family consists of nine members.But needless to add, they are men.If we include servants etc we are no less than twenty. We live in a small jail within the big jail. The inmates, master or servant, may not mix with the rest of the prisoners. In our household there are all kinds of people, cook, cook's mate, cleaner, sweeper, etc. Apart from living quarters , this small jail also contains a kitchen, a tank, a tnnis court etc. The bathroom is under construction for the past six months.....Here we have a household but no house wife.In the absence of a house wife we have appointed a manager -  needless to say, he is a prisoner without trial like the rest of us. He keeps accounts ; he draws up daily marketing lists. This great family is at his beck and call.We hold him responsible for our food and clothing  and do not hesitatde to take him to task when food is bad. We have named our household - so and so's hotel."
The servants of the class A and B political prisoners were chosen by the authorities from among the ordinary convict. Meeting and interacting with them was valuable and instructive to Subhas who wrote,
" I have now ceased to have any bad feelings about convicts.Many of them are compelled by circumstances or distress to commit crime and many get sentenced without any guilt. Many of them are warm hearted and I have no doubt whatever that in a healthy environment they became good citizens."
He wrote to some of his friends, "men eat molasseswhen honey is scarce."
Subhas began to learn about the Burmese and Burma. He wrote in the Indian Struggle,
"From one of the state prisoners ...we took our first lessons in the Burmese language. I was not there long before I developed a strong liking for the Burmese people.There is something in them which one cannot help liking them. They are exceedingly warm-hearted , frank, and jovial in their temperament . They are of course quick-tempered. .....What struck me greatly was the innate artistic sense which every Burman has. If they have any faults , it is their extreme naivete and absence of all feeling against foreighners.".
Mandalay had become in the nineteenth century one of the most important handicraft centers in all of Burma and this may have led Bose to stress the artistic sense of all Burmans. It remains today a flourishing handicraft centers where local artisans turn out intricate painted designs and beautifully carved Buddhas. He wrote to his friend Dilip Roy,

" Burma is many respects a wonderful country and my study of Burmese  life and civilisation is furnishing me with many new ideas.Their various short comings not withstanding. I consider the Burmese - like the Chinese - to be considerably advanced from a social point of view.What they do lack is most probably initiative - what Bergson would call " elan vital" - the vital impulse to overcome all obstacles and march along the road to progress......:" .

A letter of Subhas to Deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das from Mandalay Jail

Deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das expired in Darjeeling on Wednessday , 16th June 1925,  while taking his rest there.   Subhas Chandra Bose wrote a letter dated 3rd March 1926 to Hemendra nath Das, biographer of C.R.Das, expressing his mental conditions at  the death of Chittaranjan Das. He expressed Das' qualities on different aspects, such as,  in organising power, in love towards his followers,  in writing poetry, in religion, in service to the poor and needy person. The letter written by him gave an explicit statement which was rarely seen.  This was given below in some of its paragraph;
" I was with him  and worked with him , as an assistant,   for three years only.I could have learned a lot if I would have tried. But 'one   does not feel the need of one's  teeth till they exist'. .......Lastly, I met him at the Alipore Central Jail. He went to Simla for a change to recover his health. But, at once,  he came  to Calcutta  on hearing the news of our arrest. He came to Alipore Central Jail twice to see me and our last meeting was held just on the previous day of my going to Berhampur  at the end of our conversation I took dust from his feet and said, " Perhaps, it will take some time to see  you again". He replied in the negative that he was making arrangements for our release.
Alas! who knows that he will leave us for ever. .....I am still carrying the memory of his last meeting.....Many of us tried to find the secret reason of his influence over the mass. At first, I want to point out the reason of his influence. I have seen that he could love each person without looking into his merits and demerits. ....Many people used to come to him at the call of his heart for different reasons as the air rushes to the point of depression in a sea. If one could not love his comrades, he would not claim to get so much devotion.. He did not  care to feel any sense of kith  and kin in his family life. He left  everything of his family open to everybody. Every one had free access to his house , even to his bed room......The only rule in his association was self-restraint and discipline. There may be some point of difference during discussion but once when decision is taken it should be followed in Toto.This rules and regulation are not new to India. This lesson was first taught   by Lord Buddha. about 2400 years ago.Even today, the Budhists say duringbtheir prayer " Buddhong Saranang gacchami, Dharmang saranang gacchami, sanghang saranam gacchami"
In fact, in propagating religion or in social service sense of association and sense of discipline is essential......" --- quoted from "Deshabandhusmriti" p-543-585.
  .  

Maandalay Jail (contd-1)

The Bengali political prisoners in Mandalay learned that there was a financial contribution made by the Govt. for religiously incurred expenses. In 1925, they approached the officials seeking financial assistance for all the expenses involved in celebrating Durga Puja. To protest against this decision the prisoners including Subhas chandra Bose started hunger strike from 20th February, 1926. Calcutta Corporation in its meeting held on  24th February also protested vehemently against this attitude of the Govt. and observed Hartal  (strike) in Calcutta on 26th February. Hartal was also observed in bengal for this on 28th February.. When their demands were fulfilled, they called off their strike on 4th March.
Subhas wrote to Calcutta friend explainingbthe gains they had made.
".....our hunger strike was not altogether meaningless or Fruitless. Government have been forced to concede our demands relating religious matters and henceforward a Bengal state Prisoner will get an annual allowance of thirty thirty rupees on accaount of Puja expences. ......our principal gain is that the Government have now accepted the principle which they refused to do so long....Govt. has also met many of our demands...."
  In 1925, Das's health began to fail due to overwork and in May he withdrew to "Step Aside", a mountain home in Darjeeling, where Mahatma Gandhi visited him. On 16 June 1925, with a severe fever, he breathed his last. A special arrangement was made to bring his cortege by train to Calcutta.

The funeral procession in Calcutta was led by Gandhi, who said:

Deshbandhu was one of the greatest of men... He dreamed... and talked of freedom of India and of nothing else... His heart knew no difference between Hindus and Mussalmans and I should like to tell Englishmen, too, that he bore no ill-will to them.

Thousands and thousands of people accompanied Deshbandhu's funeral cortege to the burning ground at Keoratala Mahasamsan in Calcutta. The mass gathering and the manner in which people paid their last respects to this beloved leader, whom many described as "the uncrowned king of Bengal", evoked a feeling in Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) who penned a couplet that has immortalised the person to whom these words were offered : "Enechhile sathe kore mrityuheen praan/ Marane tahai tumi kore gele daan.." [You had brought with yourself a life-without-an-end/As you depart, you donate the same.."].

Subhas in Mandalay Jail

( Arthur Griffith, 1871-1922) 
The connection of Subhas Bose and later Sarat Bose with the revolutionaries is not a simple matter.Subhas Bose knew and sympathized with them and wanted them to continue to work with him in the Congress and support the Swarajya Party. Even though he may have believed that eventually the British would have to be driven from India by force of arms, He did not think the time was ripe . Some of the revolutionaries were now Congressmen and did not think of returning to a life of hiding, secrecy, and violence. Others  were beginning to turn to Socialism, though the major conversations took place in the latter 1920s and the 1930s. But some others began again to prepare for revolutionary actions.They were also spurred on by the violent path and results of Irish nationalism. The Sinn Fein movement, the Easter Rebellion and the struggle of Irishmen against the Blacks -and - Tans from 1919 to 1921 were well known to the educated young men of Bengal. There were frequent development reports of Irish developments in the nationalist press ans books were beginning to appear in Bengali on the Irish struggle for freedom.  

On October 25, 1924, everything suddenly changed . As Subhas Bose,remembered the moment a few years later;
" In the early hours of the morning of October 25, 1924. I was roused from my sleep as I was wanted by some police officers. The deputy Commissioner of Police , Calcutta, on meeting me said; Mr. Bose, I have a very unpleasant duty to perform. I have a warrant for your arrest under regulation III 0f 1818.  Then he produced another warrant authorising him to search my house for arms, explosives, am munitions, etc. Since no arms, etc were forthcoming , he had to content himself with taking a pile of papers and correspondence."

No  specific charges were ever made public and Bose - along with seventeen others in this particular round up - was jailed for an indefinite term. No charges, no hearing, no right of habeas corpus,  no judge , no jury. This was the Raj's special method of dealing with those suspected of revolutionary involvement.
The Swarajists of course, were in an uproar since several of their leading members were held.
Subhas and his batch of seven detenus joined some other political prisoners as well as ordinary convicts in the jail of wooden palisades at Mandalay.
In the 1880s the British moved on Upper Burma, conquering it in 1882. Mandalay is located in a dry zone set back from the moist coastal region . Subhas Bose described the dry season in the spring in a letter to Sarat;
" Babu Jitendra Bose once described his favourite Cossipore as 'a kingdom of dust'. I am sure he has not seen the real kingdom of dust-for that is Mandalay... In Mandalay the dust is in the air - therefore you must inhale it, It is in your food, therefore you must eat it, It is on your table - your chair, your bed, therefore you must feel its soft touch. It raises storms, obscuring distant trees and hills - therefore you must see it in all its beauty."
 In time Subhas came to learn that rain-storms as well as dust-storms could houl through the palisades as he experienced the round of the year in  Mandalay.
"But dust or rain , hot season or cool seasonm , he never felt well or comfortable during almost two years there. Part of this had to do with the construction of the prison, as Subhas sketched it. the interior of a Burmese prison is somewhat different from that of an Indian prison .... the jail buildings were built not of stone nor of brick, but of wooden palisading . From thd outside and especially at  night , the inmates of these buildings appeared almost like animals prowling about behind the bars. Withinthese structures we were at the mercy of the elements . There was nothing to protect us from the biting cold of winter or the intense heat of summer or the tropical rains in Mandalay ...we had to make the best of a bad situation."

Subhas as a Swarajists

Subhas Bose was released from his first prison life in August 1922 and involved in work on both fronts. 1. as a youth leader; 2. as a social activist;
He stressed on the important topics - spread of mass education, unity amongst different commnities, removal of untouchability , prevention of early marriages, abolition of dowry, social service, discipline, upholding truth and justice everywhere.
News of serious flooding in Bogra, Rajshahi, Pabna, Dinajpur, and Rangpurreached calcutta on September 28, 1922. Subhas was sent by the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee to tour the area. He made Santapur his center and shortly afterwards Sir P.C.Ray formd the Bengal Relief Committee with Subhas in charge of distributing the aid.
Next Subhas took the charges of some news paper of C.R.Das, such as , Forward, Banglar Katha, Atma sakti Bijali etc.
For more than a year after end of non-cooperation , the plains of political actions were divided in three factions. 1. Swarajists, who believe in the path of fighting with  british rulers within the legislatures, 2. Gandhites who do not want to participate in the legislature, 3. those who believed previously, the path of revolution again tried to unfold their swords.   an editorial in Banglar Katha on 26 th january 1923 stated ;
"Non-Cooperation has lost its terror , Inertness has taken the place of courage in people's hearts.The clarion call of the Mahatma is heard no more, and the workers have become worn out with the struggle .....swaraj will neither fall from heaven nor will it come from beyond the seas as a reward from pleasing Parliament. It will have to be forced from the  British Government, the requisites being self - reliance and - confidence."
The month after his release ,  Subhas served as the Chairman of the Reception Committee of the All Bengal Youngmen's Conference, with Dr. Meghnad Saha , the famous Scientist, as the President.    
Swarajya Party under the leadership of Deshabandhu occupied Calcutta Corporation in 1924. Swarajya Party won 32 seats nominated by Dshabandhu as Councillor.
The serious struggle within the Congress began at the end of the Congress' Gaya session held  in Dec 1922, of which Das served ,  for the second -successive year, as president. He delivered a lengthy and powerful address to the Congress putting forward  his case for non-cooperation from within the councils as well as the continuation of other Swadeshi activities more in line with Gandhi's Program. On the last session of the Congress a vote was held on the council entry proposal which won by Gandhians by 1,748 to  890. Both C.R.Das and Motilal resigned from Congress, as president and general secretary.
Over the next years C.R.Das and his Party were able to mount an effective challenge .  
Deshabandhu Chittaranjan became the first Mayor of Calcutta Corporation. and Subhas Chandra Bose at the age 27 was appointed as chief Executive on 14th April 1924 with Rs.3000/- as his basic salary. But he accepted only 50% of his salary.
Being appointed as a chief executive he established Free Primary Schools and arranged free distribution of medicine in Calcutta.
Subhas Chandra was arrested under DI rule on 25th October,1924. This was the 2nd  and the toughest prison in his life. Hemendra Nath Dasgupta wrote;
" Thus the people of Calcutta would  have been transferred  from a proud rich class of people to one of sacrificing and benevolent person and would live with milk and fish instead of adulterated oil and ghee to suffer from Dyspepsia.But Subhas Chandra fell under the hands of the British authority".
Man proposes and God disposes.
The whole country became upset at the arrest of Subhas Chandra. Deshabandhu Cittaranjan in a meeting of the Calcutta Corporation held on 29th Oct 1924 strongly protested at the action  of British Govt.and said;
" If love of Country is crime, I am a Criminal . If Mr. Subhas Chandra Bose is a criminal, - I am a Criminal , not only the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, but the Mayor of this Corporation is equally guilty All that I say is that Subhas Chandra Bose is no more a Revolutionary than I am.   Why have not they arrested me. . ." - The Calcutta Municipal Gazette , Vol XLII. No.16, P-442.
Subhas Chandra arranged for publication of Municipal gazette of Calcutta Corporation but . The fitrst edition was published on 15th Nov 1924 when he was in Jail.
For the first six weeks after arresting him Subhas Chandra was kept in Alipore Central Jail for a few days and then transferred to Berhampore  Jail. From Berhampore Jail he was shifted to Mandalay in Burmah.
When he was in Alipore jail papers of Calcutta Corporation was sent to him for signature. Corporation granted him leave  with full pay but Govt. stopped it after some time.
ose and seven others were transferred to Mandalay , Upper Burma, in the night of 25 th Jan 1925 since the group was considered highly dangerous. They were accompanied by Mr.lowman, assistant Inspector general of Police for Bengal.It took four days to reach Mandalay jail. Bal Gangadhar Tilak had spent long six years there.

Jawaharlal Nehru in Jail-1921

(Nehru with Indira, Rajiv and Sanjiv)

The first big national involvement of Nehru came at the onset of the non-co-operation movement in 1920. He led the movement in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh). Nehru was arrested on charges of anti-governmental activities in 1921, he was kept in Naini jail of Uttar pradesh and was released a few months later. In the rift that formed within the Congress following the sudden closure of the non-co-operation movement after the Chauri Chaura incident, Nehru remained loyal to Gandhi and did not join the Swaraj Party formed by his father Motilal Nehru and CR Das.

Internationalising the struggle During the mid-1930s, Nehru was much concerned with developments in Europe, which seemed to be drifting toward another world war. He was in Europe in early 1936, visiting his ailing wife, shortly before she died in a sanitarium in Switzerland. Even at this time, he emphasised that, in the event of war, India's place was alongside the democracies, though he insisted that India could only fight in support of Great Britain and France as a free country

Nehru played a leading role in the development of the internationalist outlook of the Indian independence struggle. He sought foreign allies for India and forged links with movements for independence and democracy all over the world. In 1927, his efforts paid off and the Congress was invited to attend the congress of oppressed nationalities in Brussels in Belgium. The meeting was called to co-ordinate and plan a common struggle against imperialism. Nehru represented India and was elected to the Executive Council of the League against Imperialism that was born at this meeting.

In 1930 Nehru was arrested second time, under the salt law. He was released at the end of 1931 , but arrested again. 
From the end of 1931 to September 1935 Nehru was freed and arrested many times. In fact from Dec. 1931 to Sept. 1935, he was free hardly for 6 months. 
British Administration hardly wanted to put him free, because of his fiery contribution in the Struggle of Independence. 
Pandit Nehru was put in Naini Central Jail. 
During his confinement behind the Jail Walls he wrote a series of Letters to his daughter Indira. 
These Letters are masterpieces, and possess very high rank in the Literary and politic World. 
These were later published in a world famous book named - 'Glimpses of World History' 
This Book shows the deep knowledge of Pandit JawaharLal Nehru about the World History, and the contemporary World.

Swarajya Party ( 1923 - 1935)

The Swaraj Party, Swarajaya Party or Swarajya Party, established as the Congress-Khilafat Swarajaya Party, was a political party formed in India in December 1922 that sought greater self-government and political freedoms for the Indian people from the British Raj. It was inspired by the concept of Swaraj. In Hindi and many other languages of India, swaraj means "independence" or "self-rule" The main leaders were Motilal Nehru etc.

Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das thought of contesting elections to enter the legislative council with a view to obstructing the government. Many candidates of the swaraj party got elected to the central legislative assembly and provincial legislative council in the 1923 elections. In the legislature they strongly opposed the unjust government policies.

The establishment of fully responsible government for India. Convening of a round table conference to resolve the problems of Indians. Releasing of certain political prisoners, were the resolutions in the central legislative council in the 1923 elections. In the legislature they strongly opposed the unjust government policies 

Chauri Chaura

The Swaraj Party was formed on 9 January 1923 by Indian politicians and members of the Indian National Congress who had opposed Mahatma Gandhi's suspension of all civil resistance on 5 February 1922 in response to the Chauri Chaura tragedy, where policemen were killed by a mob of protestors. Gandhi felt responsible for the killings, reproached himself for not emphasizing non-violence more firmly, and feared that the entire Non-Cooperation Movement would degenerate into an orgy of violence between the British-controlled army and police and mobs of freedom-fighters, alienating and hurting millions of common Indians. He went on a fast-unto-death to convince all Indians to stop civil resistance. The Congress and other nationalist groups disavowed all activities of disobedience.

But many Indians felt that the Non-Cooperation Movement should not have been suspended over an isolated incident of violence, and that its astonishing success was actually close to breaking the back of British rule in India. These people became disillusioned with Gandhi's political judgments and instincts.

Council entry

Gandhi and most of the Congress party rejected the provincial and central legislative councils created by the British to offer some participation for Indians. They argued that the councils were rigged with un-elected allies of the British, and too un-democratic and simply "rubber stamps" of the Viceroy.

In December 1922, Chittaranjan Das, Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar and Motilal Nehru formed the Congress-Khilafat Swarajaya Party with Das as the president and Nehru as one of the secretaries. Other prominent leaders included Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Subhas Chandra Bose of Bengal, Vithalbhai Patel and other Congress leaders who were becoming dissatisfied with the Congress. The other group was the 'No-Changers', who had accepted Gandhi's decision to withdraw the movement.

Now both the Swarajists and the No-Changers were engaged in a fierce political struggle, but both were determined to avoid the disastrous experience of the 1907 split at Surat. On the advice of Gandhi, the two groups decided to remain in the Congress but to work in their separate ways. There was no basic difference between the two.

Swarajist members were elected to the councils. Vithalbhai Patel became the president of the Central Legislative Assembly. However, the legislatures had very limited powers, and apart from some heated parliamentary debates, and procedural stand-offs with the British authorities, the core mission of obstructing British rule failed.

With the death of Chittaranjan Das in 1925, and with Motilal Nehru's return to the Congress the following year, the Swaraj party was greatly weakened.

Changers and No-Changers, and the Simon Commission

After his release from prison in 1924, Gandhi sought to bring back the Swarajists to the Congress and re-unite the party. Gandhi's supporters were in a vast majority in the Congress, and the Congress still remained India's largest political party, but Gandhi felt it necessary to heal the divide with the Swarajists, so as to heal the nation's wounds over the 1922 suspension.

The Swarajists sought more representation in the Congress offices, and an end to the mandatory requirement for Congressmen to spin khadi cloth and do social service as a prerequisite for office. This was opposed by Gandhi's supporters, men like Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajendra Prasad, who became known as the No Changers as opposed to the Swarajist Changers. Gandhi relaxed the rules on spinning and named some Swarajists to important positions in the Congress Party. He also encouraged the Congress to support those Swarajists elected to the councils, so as not to embarrass them and leave them rudderless before the British authorities.

When the Simon Commission arrived in India in 1928, millions of Indians were infuriated with the idea of an all-British committee writing proposals for Indian constitutional reforms without any Indian member or consultations with the Indian people. The Congress created a committee to write Indian proposals for constitutional reforms, headed by now Congress President Motilal Nehru. The death of Lala Lajpat Rai, beaten by police in Punjab further infuriated India. People rallied around the Nehru Report and old political divisions and wounds were forgotten, and Vithalbhai Patel and all Swarajist councillors resigned in protest.

Between 1929 and 1937, the Indian National Congress would declare the independence of India and launch the Salt Satyagraha. In this tumultuous period, the Swaraj Party was defunct as its members quietly dissolved into the Congress fold.

Madras Province Swarajya Party

The Madras Province Swarajya Party was established in 1923. S. Satyamurti and S. Srinivasa Iyengar led the party. Though the character of the organisation was heterogeneous it was largely dominated by Brahmins. The party contested in all provincial elections between 1923 and 1934 with the exception of the 1930 election which it did not participate officially due to the Civil Disobedience Movement though some of the members of the party contested as independents. The party emerged as the single largest party in the 1926 and 1934 Assembly elections but refused to form the provincial government under the existing dyarchy system. In 1934, the Madras Province Swarajya Party merged with the All India Swarajya Party which subsequently merged with the Indian National Congress when it contested the 1935 elections to the Imperial Legislative Council held as per the Government of India Act 1935.the

From 1935 onwards, the Swarajya Party ceased to exist and was succeeded by the Indian National Congress in the elections to the Imperial Legislative Council as well as the Madras Legislative Council.

Presidents of the Madras Province Swarajya Party	Term start	Term End
S. Srinivasa Iyengar	1923	1930
Sathyamurthy	1930	1935

Performance of the Madras Provincial Swarajya Party

Elections	Seats in Madras Assembly	Assembly Seats won	Total number of Council seats	Members nominated to the council	Result	Party President
1923	98	20	29
1926	98	41	34			S. Srinivasa Iyengar
1930	Did not participate in the elections due to Civil Disobedience Movement
1934	98		29

Gandhi in Yerwada Jail

Yerwada Central Jail is a noted high-security jail in Yerwada, Pune, in Maharashtra. This is the largest jail in the state of Maharashtra, and also one of the largest prisons in South Asia, housing over 3,600 prisoners (2005) spread over various barracks and security zones, besides an open jail just outside its premises. Many famous personalities like Mahatma Gandhi have been jailed here during the Indian independence movement in 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.

The campus is spread over 512 acres, holds over 3,600 prisoners and is one of the largest prisons in South Asia. Within the campus, the main high security jail is protected by four high walls  and is divided into various security zones and barracks  it even has egg-shaped cells meant for high-security prisoners. It has been known for overcrowding and poor living conditions after news reports in 2003 lead to Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MHRC) issuing a notice.

History

Yerwada Central Jail was built in the year 1871 by the British, when the place was outside the city limits of Pune.

During British Raj the jail housed many freedom fighters especially during the years 1930 to 1942, which included Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Netaji Subhas Bose andBal Gangadhar Tilak. In 1924 Veer Savarkar was also kept in this jail. Mahatma Gandhi spent several years in Yerwada Jail during India's freedom struggle, notably in 1932 and later in 1942 during the Quit India movement, along with many other freedom fighters. During his 1932 imprisonment, which started after his arrest in January 1932, he went on an indefinite fast to protest against the Communal Award on September 20, 1932, as a result he the famous Poona Pact was passed which he signed in this jail on 24 September 1932, he was later released in May 1933.

During the Emergency era of 1976-77, many political opponents were detained in this jail like several other jails all over India. Among those detained here were Balasaheb Deoras, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Pramila Dandavate, Vasant Nargolkar, Bhikuji Anna and many others.

In 1998, noted social worker Anna Hazare was briefly imprisoned here after he lost a defamation suit, and Bollywood film actor Sanjay Dutt in 2007  and among other noted criminals, scamster Telgi  and former underworld don Arun Gawli started his political career while being lodged in this jail, and is currently serving a life sentence here, in a murder case The 26/11 Mumbai terror attacker, Ajmal Kasab who was jailed in 2008, was hanged and buried here on November 21, 2012.

Yerwada Open Jail

Yerwada Open Jail (YOJ) is situated just outside the Yerwada Central jail within the campus and houses life prisoners, who have amicably completed five years in the central jail. Here they live under basic security, and are not put in prison cells. Over 150 inmates of the open jail grow organic vegetables, over five guntha of land, which are sent to the Yerwada Central Prison and the women’s prison. Besides this, the cow shed has 30 cows, whose dung is used the farming activities.

Programs

A program designed to spread Gandhian principles in Yerwada prison was introduced in Yerwada prison in 2002 by Asim Sarode, founder of Sahyog Trust. As part of the programme, the prison inmates are taught Gandhian principles for one year, at the end of the year, they have to appear for an examination. Admission to the course is optional. Inmates of the jail produce nearly 5,000 clothes daily, supplied to jails across the state, it has its own textile mill and later around 150 inmates, including women, are involved in stitching these clothes. Some of these costumes, like uniforms of superintendents, prisoners, wardens, and guards, were made for Madhur Bhandarkar’s 2009 filmJail.

In 2007, in an effort to promote in Indian medicinal plants, 8,500 saplings of sandalwood were planted within the central jail premises, while 9,000 saplings of Ashoka (saraca indica) in its open jail. An Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) related facility was started at the jail on October 2, 2008, by the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS), and within the following year 55 inmates including six women tested HIV positive.