1. It was essentially a Moderates’ draft. It demanded constitutional reforms like expansion of popular elements in central and provincial legislatures, inclusion of Indians into the Viceroy’s and Provincial Governors’ executive council. The executive councils would have at least half the members as Indians who would be elected by the corresponding legislature. Once elected they can’t be removed by the legislature.
2. Congress accepted communal electorates and fixed proportion of Muslims in central and provincial legislatures.
3. Congress agreed to it reluctantly to bring Muslims in the INM fold. But after the 1919 reforms when it realized that it could have the power without the support of Muslims, it went back on the pact.

Features

1. 3 of the 8 members of GG’s executive council will be Indians, but appointed ones.
2. Centre-State Relations: Subjects of administration were divided into central and provincial. Even the sources of revenue were divided into central and provincial so that the provinces could run their administration based on the revenue they generated. Thus the budgets for provinces also came into place. But this was not federalism, rather act of benevolence. The centre could still legislate on any subject.
3. Dyarchy in Provinces: It sought to introduce element of responsible government without impairing Governor’s powers. So subjects were divided into 2 – reserved and transferred. Reserved were kept only for governor (with his executive council) and transferred for governor on the advice of CoM.
4. Composition of Central Council: Now it was made bicameral. Non-official majority in the lower house was raised to 70% and in the upper house too they had a majority. The electorates were arranged on communal basis.
5. Powers of Central Councils: GG still had overriding power by (a) veto, (b) his consent needed for introduction of certain bills, (c) he could make ordinances which had same power as acts.
6. Composition of Provincial Councils: Nonofficial majority was raised to 70% of total strength. Electorates were communal.
7. Powers of Provincial Councils: They could now move resolutions on Budget and levy taxes. But a provincial bill could become an act only when it received the consent of GG as well. His consent needed to introduce some bills.

Shortcomings

1. Centre-State Relations: Administration still remained rigidly centralized. The GG who decided whether a subject belonged to centre or state, not courts. GG’s consent needed for introduction and passage of some bills. Less important subjects in state list. Centre could still legislate on any subject.
2. Dyarchy: Governor had all financial powers. He also controlled the bureaucracy. Less important subjects and conflicts in subjects. The governor was not bound by advice of CoM even on transfered subjects. CoM were not collectively responsible to the council, but individually to the governor.
3. All the key administrative departments including finance were kept on the “reserved’ side.
4. The actual division of subjects was haphazard and illogical. The ministers had no full control over the factories, mines, water, power etc.
5. Then again, the ministers had to depend completely on the Finance Department which was supervised by a member of the Governor’s Executive Council. No progressive measure could be put through without his consent.
6. The extensive authority of the Governor to ignore the advice of his ministers and to act in his discretion in case he considered it necessary, ostensibly in the interest of minorities, the depressed classes, public services or for maintaining peace and tranquillity in the province, virtually made the ministers powerless even in relation to ‘transferred’ subjects.
7. The main instruments of administration, namely, the Indian Civil Service and Indian Police, were under the control of the Governor and were responsible to him and not to the ministers. Thus, an ICS officer in the rank of Secretary or the Commissioner, being backed by the Governor, could practically veto a decision of the minister, which resulted in considerable diminution in the authority of the latter.
8. Narrow franchise. Property qualifications restricted it to 12.5% of the adult population. In addition to muslims, sikhs were given communal electorate as well while the depressed classes were given nominated seats in legislatures at all level.

GoI Act, 1935

1. The government had curbed CDM by using force. But it knew force can work only for so long. So it decided to divide the INM by drawing the moderates out with the lure of reforms. This would accentuate the differences between left and right wings as left would be opposed to constitutional process. Once separated, left could be crushed. The right wing once in power would be cutoff from the masses and lose popularity.
2. Gandhiji had been persuaded by the £ to participate in the 2nd RTC on the basis of 3 promises – federation, responsible government, reservations and safeguards.
3. Provincial autonomy would weaken the central leadership and create strong provincial leaders. Thus Congress organization would be weakened @ all-India level.
4. In rural India the voting rights were given to the rich and the middle peasants who were staunch supporters of the congress.

1. Centre-state relations: It prescribed a federation with provinces and such native states who were willing to join as units. But each province and native state was free to chose whether to join the federation or remain separate. States representatives were to be nominated by the rulers who would constitute a solid conservative and £ loyal 40% in the upper house. The federation would come into existence only if > 50% of the princely states formally acceded to it by signing the Instruments of Accession which would override their previous treaties with the £. But it established a federation and gave provinces autonomy in their sphere of legislation. The 3 lists were created. There were also emergency provisions. They were no longer delegates of the centre. Governor now derived his powers from the crown and not GG.
2. Provincial government: The governor was now required to act on the advice of CoM who were responsible to the council. But this was balanced by giving wide powers to the governors on summoning legislatures, giving assent to bills, administering tribal regions, safeguarding minority rights, privileges of civil servants and £ business interests. And finally they could take over and run the administration of a province indefinitely.
3. Central government: It introduced dyarchy @ centre. On reserved subjects which included internal security, foreign affairs, defence etc., GG acted solely in his discretion. On the transfered subjects, he was to act in accordance with the advice of CoM who were responsible to the legislature. But even here, the GG could act in contrary to the advice tendered by the CoM if it affected his ‘special responsibilities’. In practice, even the CoM was never appointed.
4. London – Delhi relations: There was to be a transfer of financial control from London to Delhi in response to the long standing demand of the GoI for fiscal autonomy.
5. Powers of councils: GG (and governor in provinces) could veto, suspend proceedings / discussion on a bill, needed to give assent for introduction of bill.
6. Electorate: The electorate was enlarged to 30 mm but high property qualifications meant only 10% could vote. In rural India, thus, the voting rights were given to the rich and the middle peasants who were staunch supporters of the congress. + communal electorates to everybody.

The GoI Act 1935 could hardly satisfy anybody.

States on Federation

1. Their main objection to federation was that the Act still left the question of paramountcy unsettled. Despite the lapse of all treaties with the crown, £ were not willing to give away their paramountcy over the princes. And thus as the paramount power £ still retained the right to interfere in their internal matters and to even overthrow them if necessary. So for the princes there was nothing to be gained in joining the federation.
2. The 1825 Butler Committee too didn’t provide any solution to the paramountcy issue. The only concession it gave to the states was that paramountcy would not be transferred without their consent to any democratically elected government in £ India but there was no dilution of £ paramountcy.
3. The princes supported the idea of federation in the Nehru report of 1928 hoping to get rid of the £ paramountcy problem. Thus in this federation they would be able to secure their autonomy as well as break free of £. Thus the Chamber of Princes endorsed it and federation became a © demand of the princes. But in the GoI Act 1935 £ made it clear that their paramountcy will not lapse despite the princes joining the federation. So joining the federation became meaningless.
4. Their second fear was that the democratic government at the center would have little sympathy for their autocratic causes and thus would encourage democratic forces in their territories as well.

Provincial Administration

1. The Regulating Act of 1773 and Pitt’s India Act of 1784 put restrictions on the provinces with respect to making wars, forming alliances etc. and subordinated them to the Bengal province.
2. Still the provincial governments used to enjoy great deal of autonomy in administrative matters till 1833 when their power to pass laws was taken away and their expenses put to greater control.
3. But the centralized system failed to be effective in India and expenses began to run high. So a decision was taken to decentralize.
4. In 1870, Lord Mayo decided to give a fixed sum to the provincial governments for administration of certain services like police, jail etc. The provincial governments could spend it as they wished.
5. In 1877, Lord Lytton enlarged it by transferring to provinces certain heads of expenditure and to meet the needs, provinces were given a fixed share of revenue from certain sources like excise, income tax.
6. In 1882, under Lord Ripon sources were divided into 3 – reserved for provinces, reserved for centre and sharing between provinces and centre.

Local Bodies

1. With changing times, there was a need to improve civic amenities. But finances were tight and taxes already high. So government realized that if it made locals to pay more for benefit in their own areas, they won’t mind. They also believed associating Indians with administration in some capacity would help diffuse the tension.
2. Between 1864 to 1868 local bodies were formed but they consisted of nominated members only and chaired by the DM. Thus they were not local self government.
3. In 1882, Lord Ripon issued a circular saying local bodies will consist of a majority of non-officials who would be elected wherever feasible. A non-official could also become the chairman of the body. But the franchise was limited to a few only.

Labor Acts

1. The pressure of £ manufacturers was instrumental since they didn’t want Indians to manufacture cheaply! (Height of blind criticism)
2. First Indian Factory Act was passed in 1881 under Lord Ripon and dealt with child labor. Second Act was passed in 1891 and dealt with women and child labor. But they didn’t apply to the € plantations.
3. The condition of plantation workers remained miserable and government acts gave protection to the planter only. The workers once contracted couldn’t go away or refuse to work. He could be arrested.
4. Only in 20th century were better labor laws passed.

Simon Commission

Background

1. The provisions of GoI Act, 1919 mandated creation of a commission 10 years hence to review the working of the Act. But the conservatives were about to lose the polls, hence wanted to complete this important assignment before the polls as a part of poll gimmicks.

Reactions

1. It triggered a wave of mass protests and charged up the political climate in India. Gave a new lease of life to Indian nationalism. The main point of opposition was that there was no Indian in the Commission.
2. New Protest Methods: In Lucknow, Khalik-uj-Jama coined the term “Simon Go Back”. He also flew black kites near the venue Simon was holding his meeting. Black flags were shown. The Bombay workers had a clash with the capitalists who went to welcome Simon.

Report

1. It suggested the replacement of dyarchy with full responsible government in the provinces with the provision of some emergency powers in the hands of the governors.
2. It recommended autonomy for the provinces as far as practicable and visualized a federation at the Centre, comprising both British India and the Indian States.
3. It didn’t suggest any change in the central government.

Nehru Report

Delhi Proposals by ML

1. Reservations of one-third seats in central legislature.
2. In Punjab and Bengal, Muslim majority should be guaranteed via proportional representation and in communities where Muslims were in minority, existing system of reservations should be continued.
3. Sind be made a separate province.
4. NWFP be treated as a full fledged province.

Provisions

1. It demanded dominion status on the lines of Australia and Canada.
2. It rejected the principle of separate electorates. Seats would be reserved for religious minorities only in centre and in provinces in proportion to their population.
3. India should be a federation on the basis of linguistic provinces and provincial autonomy. Sind be made a separate province from Bombay and NWFP be a full fledged province.
4. It provided for universal adult suffrage, secular state, freedom to form unions.

Reactions

1. Congress: It accepted the report and decided to give 1 year to government to implement the report failing which a mass civil disobedience movement will be launched and goal of INC will be ‘complete independence’.
2. Youth Section: They were dissatisfied because it compromised with the goal of complete independence and merely asked for dominion status. Under their pressure in 1928, it was decided to give government 1 year to implement this report else congress would adopt complete independence as a goal and launch a mass CDM.
3. ML: It rejected it because there was no provision for reservation in majority provinces and also one-third reservations for Muslims in Central Legislature. Jinnah went on to propose Calcutta Amendments and then his 14 points which were a reiteration of his unfulfilled Delhi Proposals + ‘residuary powers be vested with provinces’.
4. HM and Sikh League: Rejected the proposals on Sind, Punjab, Bengal and NWFP.

Round Table Conferences

Communal Awards, 1932

1. It awarded to each minority a specific number of seats in legislatures to be elected on the basis of communal electorates. It also declared Dalits to be a minority community and extended the communal electorates to them.
2. Gandhiji opposed the communal electorates for Dalits and demanded that increased number of seats be reserved for them but they should be elected by everyone.

Elections of 1937

Gandhiji’s Strategy towards Elections

1. After the withdrawal of CDM 3 rival factions arose in Congress. One favored elections, other constructive work, third led by left favored continuation of mobilization of peasants and workers into their respective unions and their affiliation with Congress.
2. Gandhiji conceded to the demand of liberals. Allowed them to participate in the elections and also shielded them from accusations of being lesser patriots. He said that though constitutionalism can’t give India freedom, Congressmen who can’t offer satyagraha may not sit idle and choose to express their patriotic energies in the councils provided they don’t get sucked into it.
3. At the same time, he also conciliated left by backing Nehru for Congress presidentship and stressing that CDM withdrawal doesn’t mean compromise.
4. But he sensed that he was getting out of sync with changing thought in Congress. He disagreed with participating in elections, he disagreed with left, people had no faith in his constructive work program. So he quit Congress in 1934.

Congress Debate on participating in the elections Left

1. It believed participating in elections would mean going back to pre-1919 era and abandoning the revolutionary unconstitutional path.
2. Accepting ministries would mean accepting responsibility without power since the colonial nature of the state remained same.

Pro-Office

1. Constitutional process was only a short term tactics. Idea is to expose the hollowness.
2. It is just a part of STS strategy of Gandhi. Ministries could be used to promote constructive work.

1. Formation of ministries changed the entire psychological mood in the country. It was seen as a victory.
2. Civil Liberties & INM: It led to increase in civil liberties and hence increase in youth, worker and peasant movements.
3. Zamindari System: Congress couldn’t have overthrown the zamindari system because – (a) The ministries didn’t have enough powers to do so. The sanctity of administration was guaranteed by GG and governors who were not under the control of ministry. The ministries also didn’t have enough financial resources to do so. (b) The multi-class nature of the INM also didn’t permit it to please one class at the expense of another. Many small landlords were also Congress supporters. (c) For any bill to be passed, support of both houses was necessary. But the upper house was elected on a very narrow franchise and represented reactionary elements. So anti-zamindari bills could never be passed. But it worked to reduce rent, debt burden, illegal practices. It also restored the lands confiscated during the no rent campaign under CDM.
4. Workers’ Relations: The basic approach was to promote workers’ interests while protecting industrial peace. Political arbitration in the workers’ matters was increased. Industrial Disputes Act 1938 was passed which provided for a Court of Industrial Arbitration. No strike or lockout can happen within 4 months of submission of matter to the court.
5. Dalits: Temple entry laws were passed. No government institution was to recognize any practice of untouchability. Efforts were made to increase their participation in education and police and administration.
6. Congress Organization: Serious differences emerged. Right wing in power became susceptible. They began to use state machinery to suppress left wing and nationalist movements. Congress was weakening. There were cases where Congress leaders outside power were arrested for leading protests.
7. GoI Act: It led to the failure of intentions behind GoI Act. There was no split in Congress and INM remained as strong as ever. On the other hand, the morale of the bureaucracy was lowered.
8. Princely States: It led to greater sense of urgency for responsible governments in states and integration of states’ movements with INM because people in states had their expectations fired up.

August Offer

Background

1. The Congress ministries resigned when the £ government made India a party to the war without consulting its people. £ government was happy to see them resign as now trouble would be less.
2. But the war began to turn against £ and they realized the importance of Indian help. To re conciliate, August offer was announced in August, 1940.

Provisions

1. GG’s executive council to be immediately expanded to include more Indians.
2. A War Advisory Council to be setup to help the government in managing war needs.
3. A constitution making body will be setup after the end of the war. Subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions like treaties with native states, minority rights’ protection, defense of India, position of all India services, the constitution making process will be entrusted primarily to Indians.

Reactions

1. Congress: It rejected the offer because – (a) Congress wanted complete Independence immediately. £ only promised it after the war (that too subject to all the above conditions) and only the expansion of GG’s executive council for the time being. This was nowhere close to complete independence. (b) Emphasis on giving full weight to minority opinion was criticized by the Congress as it complicated the scenario and any solution would never emerge. It amounted to giving veto power to ML and HM.

Cripps Mission

Background

1. After Battle of £ was over in 1940 end, £ reverted back to the policy of suppressing nationalists and not paying attention to their demands. But again by 1942, £ was reeling. US had joined and was putting pressure on £ to win support of India.
2. He discussed all the issues with Indian leadership but failing to find a common point, released his pre-planned document in April 1942.

Provisions

1. During war time, the GG’s executive council will be completely Indianized (except war department and that GG will continue to have a veto though) and will work as an interim government.
2. An elected constituent assembly comprising solely of Indians would be setup after the war to frame Indian constitution. Such an assembly would be drawn from provincial legislatures and will have proportional representation. Steps will also be taken for the participation of native states in the constitution making process.
3. £ will accept any constitution prepared by the constituent assembly subject to the fulfillment of the condition that each province will have the right to accept or reject the draft constitution. If a province does so, it can enter into a separate arrangement with £ in its sovereign right.

Comparison with August Offer

1. Constitution Drafting Process: August Offer was less clear on the details of the constitution making body. It merely said such a body will be setup and the process will be run primarily by Indians. Cripps mission was clear that such a body shall be elected by provincial legislatures, will have proportionate representation, representatives from native states and will comprise solely of Indians.
2. Integrity of the Country: August Offer made no attempt to divide the country. Cripps Mission deliberately left such a possibility open by insisting that each province shall have the right to reject the constitution.

Reactions

1. Congress: Rejected it because (a) Congress wanted even war department for Indians and GG not to have any veto power. GG should only work according to the advice tendered by the executive council. (b) It was against the right given to the provinces to accept / reject the constitution. (c) It demanded that representatives of the native states should be elected, not nominated.
2. Muslim League: Rejected it because (a) It didn’t provide for setting up of 2 constituent assemblies for India and Pakistan. (b) There were no express provisions for the safeguard of minority interests.
3. Hindu Mahasabha: Rejected it because (a) It opposed the continuation of separate electorates for the provincial elections. (b) It was also against the independence given to the provinces to reject the constitution.
4. Sikhs: Opposed it because of the provision of independence of provinces.
5. Dalits: Opposed it because no protection for dalits.

Wavell Plan, 1945

Pre-Wavell Diplomacy

CR Formula

1. In 1944 when it became clear Allied would win, Indian nationalists decided to put pressure on £. But at that time there was a deadlock between Congress and ML. So in order to resolve this deadlock, C Rajgopalachari proposed this plan which was also endorsed by Gandhiji.
2. Congress and ML should work together to pressurize £ for independence. The issue of partition could be decided after the independence.
3. Even in the situation where a separate state was created, cooperation would be retained in matters like currency, communications, defence and foreign affairs.
4. Talks were held between Gandhi and Jinnah over the plan but failed as Jinnah insisted that the issue of partition be settled first.

Desai-Liaqat Ali Talks

1. Both (Bhula Bhai Desai and Liaqat Ali) were members of central legislative assembly and personal friends. To break the deadlock between Congress and ML, both agreed that Congress and ML will share equal number of positions in the interim government and will work together for independence.
2. When such an understanding became public, Jinnah publicly repudiated these talks and ML refused to follow it.

Wavell Plan & Shimla Conference

1. It came in the middle of 1945 when the war in Europe had ended. He declared that £ would still abide by the promises made in the Cripps Plan and came up with his own plan.
2. According to his plan, Viceroy’s executive council will be converted into interim government immediately. Members to such interim government will be 50% caste Hindus and 50% Muslims. Simultaneously a constituent assembly will be elected on the basis of proportional representation to draft a constitution. The interim government will function till the constitution is drafted. To build a consensus for his plan, he called a conference in Shimla.
3. Shimla conference failed. Jinnah demanded that all the Muslim members of the interim government should be the nominees of Muslims (Note this is not very different from the Desai-Liaqat talks which Jinnah rejected! But the context here was so different.). Congress naturally couldn’t have accepted it because it would have meant giving up its secular credentials and becoming a Hindu only party. It failed because Jinnah was allowed to effectively veto all the proceedings.

Impact of Wavell Plan & Shimla Conference

1. ML was allowed to veto the proceedings. Its prestige and claim to be a representative of all Muslims sky-rocketed. £ government virtually accepted that ML was the sole representative of Muslims.
2. It led to strengthening of partition movement because ML used this enhance prestige to press for more radical demands and on this credibility it won the elections held in 1945.

Cabinet Mission (June, 1946)

Background

1. It came as £ increasingly realized that it was impossible to hold India any more. There was the cold war effect, pressure exerted by Indian nationalists, the growing nationalism in bureaucracy and military etc. By now their strategy had changed.
2. Earlier they were stroking communalism in the hope to divide the nationalists and delay freedom. But now they realized that freedom was inevitable. Cold war politics dictated that the new entity should remain a friend to £. But how would it be possible if 2 mutually hostile entities are created. One would necessarily gravitate towards Soviet Union and it will get a foothold in S Asia. So Cabinet Mission rejected the idea of Pakistan. To this extent Atlee had declared that minority will not be allowed to veto any progress by majority.

Provisions

1. Viceroy’s executive council will become the interim government and all members except the viceroy and commander-in-chief will be Indians.
2. An attempt was made to strike a balance between aspirations of Congress and ML. Provinces should be free to form groups (sub-federation) with Executives and Legislatures, and each group could determine the provincial subjects to be taken in common. A 3 tier federal structure was proposed – union, groups, provinces for both £ India and princely states. Congress was appeased by rejecting the demand of Pakistan. ML was appeased by creating 3 grouping of provinces. Hindu majority provinces of UP, Bihar, Odisha, Central Provinces, Bombay, Madras were to be in Group A. Muslim majority provinces of Punjab, Sind, NWFP would be in Group B. Bengal and Assam would be in Group C. After the first general elections a province could come out of a group. After 10 years a province could call for a reconsideration of grouping or the union constitution.
3. High degree of provincial autonomy was adopted. The new central government will have powers over only communication, defence and foreign affairs with the right to raise revenue for the discharge of these functions. All the residual powers will lie with the provinces.
4. The constituent assembly was to be elected to draft the © for whole of India, on a proportional basis by provincial legislative assemblies. The guiding principal should be that 1 man in constituent assembly should represent roughly 1 mm men.

Reactions

1. Congress: It accepted only the provisions regarding constituent assembly while rejecting the ML interpretation of groupings. ML asserted groupings were mandatory while Congress asked the government to clarify that the groupings were optional i.e. the provinces should be ale to come out of a grouping before the 1st general elections itself. (Congress was strong in NWFP and Assam and was hoping these provinces will not join their respective groupings). Congress claimed that the Mission Plan was against Pakistan, ML’s veto was gone and there would be only one constituent assembly. JLN declared that the congress had agreed to nothing else apart from the participation in the constituent assembly and that the group system would probably collapse as Assam and NWFP may not want to join it. When the £ clarified that ML’s interpretation of the groupings was correct, Congress rejected the plan and refused to join the government.
2. ML: It accepted the plan initially and was ready to join the government. It maintained that the groupings were a sanction for Pakistan. However, it wanted the right to consider the union constitution now and not after 10 years. But when Congress refused to join the government, ML pressurized the £ to go ahead with the interim government formation without the Congress. £ made it clear that any government was not possible without Congress. So ML withdrew its support and decided to press for Pakistan. The events which followed made partition inevitable.

Post-Cabinet Mission Diplomacy

Breakdown Plan (September 1946)

1. To pressurize the Congress to accept the Cabinet Mission, £ threatened to remove administrative and military machinery from parts of India gradually. Sovereignty would be decided by the concerned province / native state on their own. £ would withdraw to the Pakistani provinces leaving Congress to deal with the rest of India.
2. So Congress had to join the interim government which was formed on 2 September 1946. ML had not, however, joined it yet.

ML Diplomacy

1. Once the £ refused to overlook the Congress, ML decided to militantly press ahead for the demand of Pakistan. On 29 July 1946, it announced, “Lekar rahenge Pakistan.” It announced that it will observe 10 August 1946 as the Direct Action Day and would force Congress and £ to agree to Pakistan even if force had to be resorted to.
2. Massive communal riots broke out all over the country. It appeared that India was going down the road of a civil war. Congress and £ now were compelled to agree to the possibility of partition.
3. ML joined the interim government in October 1946 without giving up on direct action to wreck its functioning and to prove any governance of India was not possible without the cooperation of ML. It wanted to make sure state machinery was not used against ML. When £ announced that it will only accept a constitution which was drafted by the consent of all major communities, ML promptly resigned from the interim government as well as constituent assembly in December 1946.

February Declaration & Mountbatten Plan

Background

1. £ had increasingly realized the inevitability of partition. Their aim was to contain Soviet Union and hence establish friendly relations with both nations. For this, instead of identifying communal elements and then to eliminate them, they followed a policy of friendly negotiations with both. They sought to win both parties by saying that if the constituent assembly was not representative of both communities, power would be transfered to 2 states. Congress thought even if ML withdrew constituent assemblies will still have Muslims. So it agreed. ML withdrew.
2. On 20 February 1947, £ prime minister Atlee announced that £ would quit India in any case by 30 June 1948. He sent Mountbatten to oversee the transfer of process. The declaration came in the hope that it would shock the parties and pressurize them to move towards a solution out of the deadlock.
3. Immediately upon arrival Mountbatten held large number of discussions with Indian leaders. On 3 June 1947, Atlee announced Mountbatten Plan. Also by now Pakistan’s creation had become a necessity.

He realized on his very arrival that it was virtually impossible to hand over the power to a united India.

1. He proposed Plan Balkan in April which was to partition Punjab and Bengal and to hand over the power to each province or sub province which would have the freedom to join either constituent assembly based on the right to self determination. Demission of power to provinces and sub provinces in the absence of a strong center would have definitely led to balkanization of India.
2. Jinnah rejected it too for he was not willing to accept a plan which gave him a truncated Pakistan.

1. 2 dominion status states of India and Pakistan were to be created. Hindu majority provinces that had already accepted the constituent assembly had no choice but the muslim dominated provinces had the freedom to join either constituent assembly.
2. Native states would have complete freedom to decide their own destiny.
3. Separate boundary commission would be setup to decide the boundary between India and Pakistan. Punjab and Bengal would be partitioned as well. ML’s position was granted in the sense Pakistan was created and Congress’ in the sense such a Pakistan was kept as small as possible.

The fatal defect in this scheme was that neither Jinnah nor ML had ever defined the rights of non Muslims in Pakistan.
Reactions

1. Congress: It accepted partition and dominion status as it believed power should be grabbed as soon as possible so that the communal situation in the country could be met with a firm hand. Hence the early transfer of power on 15 August 1947 instead of 30 June 1948.

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