Editing Jawaharlal Nehru (section)

=== Congress president, provincial elections: 1935–1939 ===
[[File:Jawaharlal Nehru at Karachi on return from Lausanne with Kamala Nehru’s ashes.jpg|thumb|Nehru in [[Karachi]] after returning from [[Lausanne]], [[Switzerland]] with the ashes of his wife [[Kamla Nehru]] in March 1936]]
[[File:Jawaharlal Nehru with Rabindranath Tagore,1936.jpg|thumb|Nehru with Indian Nobel-prize-winning poet [[Rabindranath Tagore]] in 1936]]
[[File:Jawaharlal Nehru in a procession at Peshawar,North West Frontier Province, 14 October 1937.jpg|thumb|alt=Photograph of 1000s of people in a procession |Nehru in a procession at [[Peshawar]], [[North-West Frontier Province]], 14 October 1937]]
[[File:Jawaharlal Nehru on visit to Egypt, June 1938.jpg|thumb|right|Nehru on a visit to Egypt in June 1938]]

In September 1935, Nehru's wife, Kamala, became terminally ill while receiving medical treatment in [[Badenweiler]], Germany.{{sfn|Zachariah|2004|pp=76–77}} Nehru was released from prison early on compassionate grounds, and moved his wife to a sanatorium in [[Lausanne]], Switzerland, where she died on 28 February 1936.{{sfn|Moraes|2007|pp=245–248}} While in Europe, Nehru learned that he was elected as Congress president for the coming year. He returned to India in March 1936 and led the Congress response to the [[Government of India Act 1935]]. He condemned the Act as a "new charter of bondage" and a "machine with strong brakes but no engine".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=R.L.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/651637|title=Conflict and harmony: Indo-British relations; a new perspective|year=1976|publisher=Trimurti Publications|isbn=|page=18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Sethi|first=R.R.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/6068755|title=The last phase of British sovereignty in India (1919–1947): being the concluding chapters of the Cambridge history of India, vol. VI. and the Cambridge shorter history of India|year=1958|publisher=S. Chand|isbn=|pages=34}}</ref> He initially wanted to boycott the [[1937 Indian provincial elections|1937 provincial elections]], but agreed to lead the election campaign after receiving vague assurances about [[abstentionism]] from the party leaders who wished to contest.{{sfn|Gopal|1976|p=214}} Nehru hoped to treat the election campaign as a mass outreach programme.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Möller|first1=U.|last2=Schierenbeck|first2=I.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uKbAAwAAQBAJ|title=Political Leadership, Nascent Statehood and Democracy: A Comparative Study|year=2014|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=9781317673101|pages=52}}</ref>

During the campaign, Nehru was elected to another term as Congress president.{{sfn|Mukherjee|2018|p=41}} The election manifesto, drafted largely by Nehru, attacked both the Act and the [[Communal Award]] that went with it.{{sfn|Gopal|1976|p=214}} He campaigned against the [[All India Muslim League|Muslim League]], and argued that Muslims could not be regarded as a separate nation. The Congress won most general seats, and the Muslim League fared poorly with Muslim electorates.<ref name="Schöttli">Schöttli, J., 2012. ''Vision and Strategy in Indian Politics: Jawaharlal Nehru's Policy Choices and the Designing of Political Institutions'', p. 54. Milton Park: Taylor & Francis.</ref> After the elections, Nehru drafted a resolution against taking office, but there were many Congress leaders who wanted to assume power under the 1935 Act. The [[Congress Working Committee]] (CWC) under Gandhi passed a compromise resolution that authorised office acceptance, but reiterated that the fundamental objective of the Congress was the destruction of the 1935 Act.{{sfn|Mukherjee|2018|p=43}}

Nehru was more popular than before with the public,{{sfn|Gopal|1976|p=214}} but he found himself isolated at the CWC meetings due to the anti-socialist orientation of its membership. Gandhi had to personally intervene when a group of CWC members and Nehru threatened to resign and counter-resign their posts over disagreements.{{sfn|Möller|Schierenbeck|2014|p=52}} He became discontented with his role, especially after the death of his mother in January 1938.{{sfn|Gopal|1976|p=233}} In February 1938, he did not stand for re-election as president, and was succeeded by [[Subash Chandra Bose]]. He left for Europe in June, stopping on the way at [[Alexandria]], Egypt.{{sfn|Gopal|1976|p=233}} While in Europe, Nehru became very concerned with the possibility of another world war.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/studentsbritanni04hoib/page/108/mode/2up|title=Students' Britannica India|first1=Dale|last1=Hoiberg|first2=Indu|last2=Ramchandani|date=21 November 2000|publisher=New Delhi : Encyclopaedia Britannica (India)|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> At that time, he emphasised that, in the event of war, India's place was alongside the democracies, though he insisted India could only fight in support of Great Britain and France as a free country.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hoiberg, Dale|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ISFBJarYX7YC&pg=PA108|title=Students' Britannica India|publisher=[[Popular Prakashan]]|year=2000|isbn=978-0-85229-760-5|pages=108–}}</ref> After returning to India in December 1938, Nehru accepted Bose's offer to head the [[Planning Commission (India)|Planning Commission]].<ref name="SugataBose2012">{{Cite book|last=Bose|first=Sugata|url=|title=His Majesty's Opponent: Subhas Chandra Bose and India's Struggle Against Empire|date=2012|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674065963|language=en|page=146}}</ref> In February 1939, he became president of the [[All India States Peoples Conference]] (AISPC), which was leading popular agitations in princely states.<ref name="Bandyopadhyay2004">{{Cite book|last=Bandyopadhyay|first=Sekhara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-EpNz0U8VEQC|title=From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India|publisher=[[Orient Blackswan]]|year=2004|isbn=978-81-250-2596-2|pages=409–410}}</ref> Nehru was not directly involved in the events that split the Congress during the Bose presidency, and unsuccessfully attempted to mediate.{{sfn|Mukherjee|2018|p=44}}