India from 1935 to 1947: Government of India Act to Independence – Complete Notes for OAS

India 1935–1947 notes for OPSC OAS and UPSC cover the final, decisive phase of the freedom struggle: from the Government of India Act 1935 and the 1937 provincial elections through the Second World War, the Quit India Movement, the INA, the Cabinet Mission, and the Mountbatten Plan to the Indian Independence Act 1947 and Partition. This page explains every event, the negotiations, the failures and the final settlement, with Odisha's role throughout and practice questions.

Government of India Act 1935 and the 1937 Elections

The Government of India Act 1935 was the longest Act of the British Parliament until 1999, split into the Government of India Act and the Government of Burma Act. It abolished dyarchy in the provinces and introduced provincial autonomy; it proposed an All India Federation of British Indian provinces and princely states (which never materialised); it proposed dyarchy at the Centre (never implemented); it introduced direct elections with the franchise expanded from 7 million to 35 million; it separated Sindh from Bombay and Bihar from Orissa; and it provided for the Reserve Bank of India, the Federal Public Service Commission, and the Federal Court (1937).UPSC 2024UPSC 2017

Elections were held in 1936–37 in eleven provinces. The Congress formed ministries in eight provinces and the Muslim League in two. The Congress ministries resigned in October–November 1939 in protest against Viceroy Linlithgow declaring India a belligerent in World War II without consulting Indian leaders.

Outbreak of World War II and the Congress Response (September 1939)

When World War II broke out, Viceroy Linlithgow declared India a belligerent without consulting Indians. The Congress Working Committee at Wardha (September 1939) passed a resolution stating that India could not be party to a war fought for democratic freedom while that freedom was denied to India. The Congress decided on (i) no Indian support for the war, (ii) no immediate mass struggle, and (iii) resignation of Congress ministries in the provinces. Jinnah and the Muslim League celebrated this as a 'Day of Deliverance'.

Linlithgow's statement (1939) promised modification of the 1935 Act and the formation of a consultative committee, but the British refused to state their war aims. The Ramgarh session of the INC (March 1940) decided that India would accept nothing short of complete independence, and proposed a future Civil Disobedience Movement. In March 1940, the Muslim League at Lahore passed the Pakistan Resolution.

Lahore Resolution (Pakistan Resolution), March 1940

The All India Muslim League, at its Lahore session (22–24 March 1940), passed the Lahore Resolution demanding independent states in the Muslim-majority areas of the North-West and East. Zafarullah Khan drafted the resolution. The resolution rejected the federal scheme of the 1935 Act. Some pro-united India Muslim organisations, like the All India Azad Muslim Conference, opposed it and supported a united India.

August Offer (1940)

Viceroy Lord Linlithgow presented the August Offer on 8 August 1940. Its main features were: promise of dominion status in the unspecified future; expansion of the Governor-General's Executive Council with more Indians; a promise of a Constituent Assembly (mainly Indians) after the war; and no future constitution to be adopted without the consent of minorities. For the first time, the British recognised the inherent right of Indians to frame their own Constitution.

Both the Congress and the Muslim League rejected the offer. Nehru said, 'Dominion status concept is dead as a doornail.'

Individual Satyagraha (October 1940)

After the failure of the August Offer, Gandhi launched the Individual Satyagraha in October 1940. Its aims were: to show that nationalist patience was not due to weakness; to express that Indians made no distinction between Nazism and the autocracy that ruled India; and to give the government another opportunity to accept Congress demands peacefully. The first Satyagrahi was Acharya Vinoba Bhave; the second was Jawaharlal Nehru; the third was Brahma Dutt. The campaign was also known as Delhi Chalo Satyagraha.

Atlantic Charter (August 1941) and India

The Atlantic Charter, issued on 14 August 1941, outlined the Allies' post-war objectives, including self-determination and restoration of self-government for those who had lost it. When Churchill refused to apply the Charter universally to India, Gandhi and the Congress were disappointed.

Cripps Mission (March 1942)

The Cripps Mission, led by Sir Stafford Cripps, arrived in India in March 1942 to secure Indian cooperation in the war. Its main proposals were: an Indian Union with dominion status, with the right to withdraw from the Commonwealth; a Constituent Assembly (solely Indians) elected by provincial assemblies and nominated by princes; freedom for any province unwilling to join the Union to have a separate agreement with Britain; and a treaty to protect racial and religious minorities.IAS (Pre) 2016

The official Congress negotiators were Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.IAS (Pre) 2010 Gandhi described the proposals as a 'post-dated cheque' on a failing bank. The Congress objected to dominion status and the right of provinces to secede. The Muslim League objected because Pakistan was not explicitly conceded. Both rejected the Mission.WBCS 2017

Quit India Movement (August 1942)

The Quit India Resolution was passed by the Congress Working Committee at Wardha on 14 July 1942 and ratified by the All India Congress Committee at Gowalia Tank, Bombay, on 8 August 1942. Gandhi gave the slogan 'Do or Die' (Karo ya Maro). The movement demanded immediate British withdrawal from India. The slogan 'Quit India' was coined by Yusuf Meher Ali.MPPSC 2018

Course and Spread

On the morning of 9 August 1942, Gandhi, Azad, and other Congress leaders were arrested. Aruna Asaf Ali presided over the Congress committee session and hoisted the flag at Gowalia Tank. The movement spread across Bombay, Ahmedabad, Poona, Delhi, Bihar, Eastern UP, and other regions. Students, women, workers, and peasants participated. The government declared the Congress illegal and used airplanes, lathi charges, and mass arrests to suppress the movement.

Underground Movement and Parallel Governments

• Underground leaders: Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan, Aruna Asaf Ali, Usha Mehta, Biju Patnaik, Achyut Patwardhan, Sucheta Kripalani, and R.P. Goenka. Jayaprakash Narayan and Ramnandan Mishra escaped from Hazaribagh jail on 9 November 1942.
• Congress Radio: Usha Mehta ran an underground radio in Bombay.IAS (Pre) 2011
• Parallel governments: Ballia (under Chittu Pandey, the first to come into being), Tamluk, Midnapore (Jatiya Sarkar under Satish Samant), Satara (Prati Sarkar under Nana Patil), and Talcher, Odisha (under Lakshman Nayak).

Responses of Other Parties

• The Muslim League maintained distance; some Muslims supported the movement by sheltering underground workers.
• The Hindu Mahasabha boycotted the movement.
• The Communist Party of India opposed the movement, following the Nazi attack on Russia.
• The princes and landlords aligned with the British war effort.
• Some Congress members, like Rajagopalachari and Bhulabhai Desai, abstained.

Subhash Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army (1942–1945)

Subhash Chandra Bose was born in 1897 in Cuttack, Odisha. He was a graduate of Calcutta University and studied at Cambridge. His political mentor was Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das. He was elected Mayor of Calcutta in 1932, and in 1938 (Haripura) and 1939 (Tripuri) was elected Congress President. After the Tripuri crisis, he resigned and formed the All India Forward Bloc (1939). He was the first to call Gandhi the 'Father of the Nation'.

Formation of the INA

• The idea of the INA was first conceived in Malaya by Captain Mohan Singh.UPPSC (Pre) 2001
• In March 1942, a conference of Indians in Tokyo formed the Indian Independence League, with Rash Behari Bose playing a major role.
• In June 1942, the Bangkok conference elected Rash Behari Bose as President and decided to raise the INA. Rash Behari Bose later handed over leadership to Subhash Chandra Bose.
• On 21 October 1943, Bose formed the Provisional Government of Free India (Azad Hind Sarkar) in Singapore, recognised by Japan and eight other governments.
• In November 1943, Japan handed over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the INA; Bose renamed them Shaheed and Swaraj.

INA Structure and Campaign

• The INA had three fighting brigades named after Gandhiji, Azad, and Nehru, and later the Subhash Brigade and the Rani Jhansi Regiment (the women's regiment).
• In March 1944, the INA advanced towards Assam through Burma, reaching Kohima in May 1944. It failed to capture Imphal due to supply failures and the monsoon.
• British troops recaptured Rangoon in May 1945; the INA surrendered.
• Subhash Chandra Bose died in an air crash near Taiwan in August 1945.
• The slogans of the INA were 'Jai Hind' and 'Delhi Chalo'.

Red Fort INA Trials (1945–1946)

The INA trials began on 5 November 1945 at the Red Fort, Delhi. Prominent officers tried included Colonel Prem Sahgal, Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon, and Major General Shah Nawaz Khan. The Congress formed an INA Defence Committee; the defence was led by Bhulabhai Desai, assisted by Tej Bahadur Sapru, K.N. Katju, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Asaf Ali. The trials generated widespread public agitation across India.

C. Rajagopalachari Formula (1944)

C. Rajagopalachari, who had resigned from the Congress in 1943, proposed a formula to break the deadlock with the Muslim League. Its main provisions were: the League would endorse India's demand for independence and cooperate in forming a provisional government; after the war, a commission would demarcate contiguous Muslim-majority districts in the North-West and North-East; in case of separation, essential common services (defence, commerce, communication) would be jointly managed; and the scheme would be implemented only after the complete transfer of power. Jinnah rejected the formula, calling it a 'mutilated and moth-eaten Pakistan', and insisted that only Muslims should vote on partition. Gandhi rejected that demand, as it was based on the Two-Nation theory. The Hindu Mahasabha and the National Liberal Federation also opposed it.

Desai-Liaquat Proposals (1945)

Bhulabhai Desai, the Congress leader in the Central Assembly, and Liaquat Ali Khan, the Deputy Leader of the Muslim League, met in January 1945 and drafted proposals for an interim government at the centre: equal nomination by the Congress and the League; 20% reserved seats for minorities; and functioning within the framework of the 1935 Act. Both parties ultimately did not favour the proposal.

Wavell Plan (1945) and Simla Conference

Viceroy Lord Wavell announced the Wavell Plan on 14 June 1945. Its main proposals were: a new Executive Council at the Centre in which all members except the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief would be Indians; all portfolios except defence under Indian control; and equal representation for caste Hindus and Muslims (with Muslims overrepresented at six out of fourteen members). The Viceroy retained veto power, to be used minimally.

The Simla Conference (June 1945) was convened to discuss the plan. Jinnah insisted that the League had the exclusive right to nominate Muslim members, which the Congress rejected. The conference failed.

Elections of 1945–1946

Elections were held in the winter of 1945–46. The Congress emerged as the largest party, winning 57 out of 102 seats in the Central Assembly (some sources say 59) and a majority in most provinces except Bengal, Sindh, and Punjab. The Muslim League won all Muslim constituencies and captured the 30 reserved seats in the Central Assembly, and a majority in Bengal and Sindh. These were the last general elections in British India.

Cabinet Mission (1946)

The Cabinet Mission, announced on 22 January 1946 and arriving in Delhi on 24 March 1946, consisted of Pethick-Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps, and A.V. Alexander. Its objectives were to obtain agreement on the framing of a constitution, to formulate a constitution-making body (the Constituent Assembly), and to establish an Executive Council with the support of major Indian parties.

Main Provisions

• Rejection of Pakistan: The Mission rejected the demand for a full-fledged Pakistan, arguing it would not resolve the communal minority problem.
• Three-tier structure: A Union of India with a weak centre controlling only defence, foreign affairs, and communications; provinces with full autonomy and residual powers; and grouping of provinces into Section A (Hindu-majority), Section B (Muslim-majority North-West), and Section C (Bengal and Assam).
• Constituent Assembly: 292 members from British India and 93 from princely states, elected by provincial assemblies through proportional representation.
• Interim government: To be formed from the Constituent Assembly.

The Muslim League accepted the long-term plan on 6 June 1946; the Congress accepted on 24 June 1946. On 10 July 1946, Nehru stated that the Constituent Assembly was sovereign and that grouping was not binding, prompting the League to withdraw its acceptance on 29 July 1946 and call for 'Direct Action Day' from 16 August 1946.

Direct Action Day (16 August 1946)

The Muslim League observed 16 August 1946 as Direct Action Day. The Bengal Government under H.S. Suhrawardy declared it a public holiday. The League organised a hartal in Calcutta, which escalated into large-scale communal riots. Communal violence also spread to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Bombay.

Interim Government (1946)

On 12 August 1946, Viceroy Wavell invited the Congress to form the government under Nehru. The Interim Government was officially established on 2 September 1946, with Nehru as Vice-President of the Executive Council and head of the government. The Muslim League initially stayed out but joined on 26 October 1946. Key portfolios: Nehru (External Affairs), Sardar Patel (Home), Baldev Singh (Defence), Liaquat Ali Khan (Finance), Rajendra Prasad (Food and Agriculture), C. Rajagopalachari (Education), and Jagjivan Ram (Labour).

Constituent Assembly and Objective Resolution (1946–1947)

The Constituent Assembly election was held in July 1946. The Congress won 201 of 292 British India seats, the Muslim League 73, independents 8, and others 6. The Assembly convened for the first time on 9 December 1946, with Dr Sachchidananda Sinha as temporary President. On 11 December 1946, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected permanent President. The Objective Resolution, declaring India an independent sovereign state, was adopted on 22 January 1947; it later became part of the Preamble of the Constitution.UPSC 2024

RIN Mutiny (February 1946)

The Royal Indian Navy Mutiny began in Bombay on 18 February 1946. Indian sailors (Ratings) protested against racial discrimination, poor food, and abuse by senior officers. The mutiny was supported by the Communist Party of India. Sardar Patel and Jinnah urged the mutineers to surrender. The mutiny signalled that the armed forces no longer blindly followed British authority.

Attlee's Statement (20 February 1947)

British Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced in the House of Commons on 20 February 1947 that the British would withdraw from India by 30 June 1948, and that Lord Mountbatten would replace Wavell as Viceroy. He indicated that power would be transferred to central and provincial bodies if the Constituent Assembly did not become fully representative, hinting at the possibility of partition.

Mountbatten Plan (3 June 1947)

Lord Mountbatten arrived in India on 22 March 1947 and, convinced that partition was the only viable solution, prepared the Mountbatten Plan. Its main features were: Punjab and Bengal Legislative Assemblies would meet in two groups (Hindus and Muslims) to vote on partition; if either group voted for partition, the province would be partitioned; Sindh would take its own decision; referendums would be held in the NWFP and the Sylhet district of Bengal; two dominions and two constituent assemblies would be created; and a Boundary Commission would demarcate boundaries.

The plan was approved by the Congress Working Committee on 3 June 1947 and ratified by the AICC on 14–15 June 1947. Govind Vallabh Pant moved the ratification resolution.

Indian Independence Act 1947

The British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act on 18 July 1947, based on the Mountbatten Plan. It provided for the creation of two independent dominions, India and Pakistan, with effect from 15 August 1947. Pakistan became independent on 14 August 1947; India on 15 August 1947. M.A. Jinnah became the first Governor-General of Pakistan; Lord Mountbatten continued as the first Governor-General of independent India.

Partition, Radcliffe Line and Aftermath

The Radcliffe Boundary Commission, chaired by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, demarcated the India-Pakistan boundary in July–August 1947. The Award was ready by 12 August 1947 but was announced only after 15 August, exacerbating the partition tragedy. Partition led to large-scale migration, refugee crisis, and communal violence. Gandhi opposed partition to the very end and did not participate in the Independence Day celebrations in Delhi; he was in Bengal working for communal peace.

Odisha Angle: 1935–1947

The period 1935–1947 was transformative for Odisha. The Government of India Act 1935 separated Bihar and Orissa into two provinces, and Odisha became a separate province on 1 April 1936. The first provincial elections under the 1935 Act were held in 1937.

• Bishwanath Das became the first elected Premier of Orissa in July 1937. (OSSSC PYQ)
• Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati headed an interim government before the Congress accepted office.
• Harekrushna Mahatab became the last Premier of Orissa Province (1946–1950) and the first Chief Minister of Odisha after the Constitution came into force in 1950.
• Quit India Movement in Odisha: A parallel government was established at Talcher under Lakshman Nayak. Harekrushna Mahatab and other leaders were arrested.
• Subhash Chandra Bose was born in Cuttack, Odisha, in 1897.
• Biju Patnaik was an underground leader during the Quit India Movement.

Practice Questions on India (1935–1947) for OPSC OAS