Question

How did maulana azad nominate nehru as congress president?

Answer 1

Since the Congress had been presided by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad since 1940, the Mahatma felt that a new president had to elected before the Interim government would become a reality, since this government would eventually invite the President of the Congress Party to occupy an important position in the government, which would most probably pave way for the Prime Ministership of Independent India.

The usual way of election for the Congress Presidency was by a voting procedure in which all the delegates of the AICC were to cast their vote for the candidate they wanted as president (these delegates numbered into more than a couple of thousand). Since the Congress session was due in November of 1946, this usual method wouldn’t have been possible, since the president had to be elected before the Interim government was formed—before the end of the summer.

Thus, in April, it was decided that the election would take place in a different way: the PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) heads were to submit their votes, and it was on the basis of the majority of these votes that would’ve finalized the Congress President for 1946.

We more or less know the rest of the story: Patel, Nehru and Kripalani stood for the post; Out of 15, 12 votes were cast in the Sardar’s name, 2 in Kripalani’s, and the remaining PCC didn’t vote for any candidate; Gandhiji asked Kripalani to withdraw his name and lobby for Jawaharlal, who eventually got 2 of Kripalani’s votes. With Gandhiji wanting Nehru to be president, now the Sardar was asked to withdraw his nomination, which he did at once.

This is where the usual story ends for those who resent Jawaharlal’s existence and the Sardar’s senility.