Editing Jawaharlal Nehru (section)

== Nationalist movement (1912–1939) ==

=== Civil rights and home rule: 1912–1919 ===
[[File:Kamala and Jawaharlal Nehru 1916.jpg|thumb|200px|alt=See captionKamala and Jawaharlal Nehru marriage ceremony|Nehru and Kamala Kaul at their wedding in Delhi, 1916]]
[[File:Jawaharlal Nehru and his family in 1918.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|right|alt=Family portrait of Nehru, his wife and daughter |Nehru in 1919 with wife [[Kamala Nehru|Kamala]] and daughter [[Indira Gandhi|Indira]]]]
Nehru's father, Motilal, was an important [[Early Nationalists|moderate]] leader of the Indian National Congress. The moderates believed British rule was modernising, and sought reform and more participation in government in cooperation with British authorities.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nanda|first=B.R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pI19BgAAQBAJ|title=Gokhale: The Indian Moderates and the British Raj|date=2015|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=9781400870493|language=en|pages=484–486}}</ref> However, Nehru sympathised with the Congress radicals,{{sfn| Zachariah|2004|pp=20–21}} who promoted [[Swaraj]], [[Swadeshi movement|Swadesh]], and boycott. The two factions had [[Surat Split|split]] in 1907. After returning to India in 1912, Nehru attended the annual session of the Congress at [[Patna]].{{sfn|Ghose|1993|p=25}} The Congress was then considered a party of moderates and elites dominated by [[Gopal Krishna Gokhale]],{{sfn|Ghose|1993|p=25}}{{sfn|Moraes|2007|p=50}} and Nehru was disconcerted by what he saw as "very much an English-knowing [[upper-class]] affair".{{sfn|Moraes|2007|p=49}} However, Nehru agreed to raise funds for the ongoing [[Satyagraha|Indian civil rights movement]] led by [[Mahatma Gandhi]] in South Africa.{{sfn|Ghose|1993|p=25}}{{sfn|Moraes|2007|p=50}} In 1916, Nehru married [[Kamala Kaul]], who came from a Kashmiri Pandit family settled in Delhi.{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=173}} Their only daughter, [[Indira Gandhi|Indira]], was born in 1917. Kamala gave birth to a son in 1924, but the baby lived for only a few days.{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=330}}

The influence of moderates declined after Gokhale died in 1915.{{sfn|Ghose|1993|p=25}} Several nationalist leaders banded together in 1916 under the leadership of [[Annie Besant]] and [[Bal Gangadhar Tilak]] to voice a demand for Swaraj or [[self-governance]]. Besant and Tilak formed separate [[Indian Home Rule movement|Home Rule League]]s. Nehru joined both groups, but he worked primarily with Besant, with whom he had a very close relationship since childhood.{{sfn|Moraes|2007|p=55}} He became the secretary of Besant's Home Rule League.<ref name="JNACA">{{Cite web |url=http://www.jnmf.in/chrono.html |title=Jawaharlal Nehru – a chronological account |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604220450/http://www.jnmf.in/chrono.html |archive-date=4 June 2012 |access-date=23 June 2012|website=Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund (JNMF)}}</ref>  In June 1917, the British government arrested Besant. The Congress and other organisations threatened to launch protests if she was not freed. The government was forced to release Besant in September, but the protestors successfully negotiated further [[Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms|concession]]s.{{sfn|Moraes|2007|p=58}}

=== Non-cooperation and afterwards: 1919–1929 ===
[[File:Jawaharlal Nehru, circa 1925.jpg|alt=|thumb|281x281px|Jawaharlal Nehru, circa 1925]]

Nehru met Gandhi for the first time in 1916 at the Lucknow session of the Congress,{{sfn|Moraes|2007|p=55}} but he had been then dissuaded by his father from being drawn into Gandhi's satyagraha politics.{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=214}} 1919 marked the beginning of a strong wave of nationalist activity and subsequent government repression that included the [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre|Jallianwala Bagh killings]]. Motilal Nehru lost his belief in constitutional reform, and joined his son in accepting Gandhi's methods and paramount leadership of the Congress.{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=228}} In December 1919, Nehru's father was elected president of the Indian National Congress in what is regarded as "the first Gandhi Congress".{{sfn| Zachariah|2004|p=39}} During the [[Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922)|non-cooperation movement]] launched by Gandhi in 1920, Nehru played an influential role in directing political activities in the United Provinces (now [[Uttar Pradesh]]) as provincial Congress secretary.{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=325}} He was imprisoned on 6 December 1921 on charges of anti-governmental activities,{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=259}} marking the first of eight periods of detention between 1921 and 1945, lasting over nine years in all. In 1923, Nehru was imprisoned in [[Nabha State|Nabha]], a [[princely state]], when he went there to see the struggle that was being waged by the [[Sikhs]] against the corrupt [[Mahant]]s. He was released after his sentence was unconditonally suspended by the British administration under the criminal procedure code.{{sfn|Moraes|2007|p=106}} By 1923, Nehru had emerged as a national figure of some stature. He was elected general secretary of the Congress,{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=323}} president of the United Provinces Congress,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Leoene|first=Fabio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=itS-DwAAQBAJ|title=Prophet and Statesmen in Crafting Democracy in India: Political Leadership, Ideas, and Compromises|date=2019|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=9781498569378|language=en|page=105}}</ref> and mayor of Allahabad all in the same year.{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=325}}

The non-cooperation movement was halted in 1922 as a result of the [[Chauri Chaura incident]].{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=267}} Nehru's two-year term as general secretary ended after 1925,{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=323}} and earlier that year he resigned as mayor of Allahabad due to his disillusionment with municipal politics.{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=327}} In 1926, Nehru left for Europe with his wife and daughter to seek treatment for his wife's tuberculosis diagnosis.{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=331}} While in Europe, he was invited to attend the Congress of oppressed nationalities in Brussels, Belgium.{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=334}} The meeting was called to coordinate and plan a common struggle against [[imperialism]]. Nehru represented India and was elected to the Executive Council of the [[League against Imperialism]] which was born at this meeting.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 45071841|title = The Indian Nationalist Movement and the League of Nations: Prologue to the United Nations|last1 = Keenleyside|first1 = T.A.|journal = [[India Quarterly]]|year = 1983|volume = 39|issue = 3|pages = 281–298|doi = 10.1177/097492848303900303|s2cid = 150520531}}</ref> He made a statement in favour of complete independence for India.{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=335}} Nehru's stay in Europe included a visit to the Soviet Union, which sparked his interest in [[Marxism]] and socialism. Appealed by its ideas but repelled by some of its tactics, he never completely agreed with [[Karl Marx]]'s ideas. However, from that time on, the benchmark of his [[Marxian economics|economic]] view remained Marxist, adapted, where necessary, to Indian circumstances.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hoiberg|first=Dale|url=https://archive.org/details/studentsbritanni04hoib/page/108/mode/2up|title=Students' Britannica India|publisher=[[Popular Prakashan]]|year=2000|isbn=978-0-85229-760-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/studentsbritanni03hoib/page/107 107]|url-access=registration}}</ref> After returning to India in December 1927, Nehru was elected to another two-year term as Congress general secretary.{{sfn|Nanda|2007|p=391}}

=== Declaration of independence ===
[[File:Jawaharlal Nehru and Motilal Nehru in 1929.jpg|thumb|Nehru, President-elect of the Lahore session of the Indian National Congress in 1929, with the outgoing President, his father Motilal]]
[[File:Gandhi Nehru 1929.jpg|thumb|Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi in 1929]]
Nehru was one of the first leaders to demand that the Congress Party should resolve to make a complete and explicit break from all ties with the British Empire. The Madras session of Congress in 1927, approved his resolution for independence despite Gandhi's criticism. At that time, he formed the Independence for India League, a pressure group within the Congress.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dutt|first=R.C.|url={{Google books|2WI31XdK8pkC|page=PR9|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}|title=Socialism of Jawaharlal Nehru|date=1981|publisher=Shakti Malik, Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-128-7|location=New Delhi|pages=54–55|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref><ref name="Gandhi-1991">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/patellife00rajm|title=Patel: A Life|date=28 November 1991|publisher=Navajivan Publishing House|via=Internet Archive|pages=171|first=Rajmohan|last=Gandhi|author-link=Rajmohan Gandhi}}</ref> In 1928, Gandhi agreed to Nehru's demands and proposed a resolution that called for the British to grant Dominion status to India within two years.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nag|first=Kingshuk|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=duHwCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT61|title=Netaji: Living Dangerously|year=2015|isbn=978-93-84439-70-5|publisher=Paranjoy Guha Thakurta}}</ref> If the British failed to meet the deadline, the Congress would call upon all Indians to fight for complete independence. Nehru was one of the leaders who objected to the time given to the British—he pressed Gandhi to demand immediate actions from the British. Gandhi brokered a further compromise by reducing the time given from two years to one.<ref name="Gandhi-1991" /> The British rejected demands for Dominion status in 1929.<ref name="Gandhi-1991" /> Nehru assumed the presidency of the Congress party during the Lahore session on 29 December 1929 and introduced a successful resolution calling for [[Purna Swaraj|complete independence]].<ref name="Gandhi-1991" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Purna Swaraj: The Demand for Full Independence 26 January 1930|url=http://www.indiaofthepast.org/contribute-memories/read-contributions/major-events-pre-1950/283-purna-swaraj-the-demand-for-full-independence-26-january-1930-|access-date=6 July 2015|publisher=indiaofthepast.org|archive-date=8 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108144457/http://www.indiaofthepast.org/contribute-memories/read-contributions/major-events-pre-1950/283-purna-swaraj-the-demand-for-full-independence-26-january-1930-|url-status=dead}}</ref> Nehru drafted the Indian Declaration of Independence, which stated:

<blockquote>We believe that it is the inalienable right of the Indian people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to enjoy the fruits of their toil and have the necessities of life, so that they may have full opportunities for growth. We believe also that if any government deprives a people of these rights and oppresses them the people have a further right to alter it or abolish it. The British government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses, and has ruined India economically, politically, culturally, and spiritually. We believe, therefore, that India must sever the British connection and attain Purna Swaraj or complete independence.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/empire/transcript/g3cs3s2t.htm|title=Learning Curve British Empire|first=Public Record|last=Office|website=Public Record Office, The National Archives|access-date=28 November 2021|archive-date=28 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128132706/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/empire/transcript/g3cs3s2t.htm|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

At midnight on New Year's Eve 1929, Nehru hoisted the [[tricolour]] [[flag of India]] upon the banks of the [[Ravi River|Ravi]] in Lahore.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Haroon|last=Khalid|url=https://scroll.in/article/866428/republic-day-story-on-ravis-banks-a-pledge-that-shaped-the-course-of-modern-india-88-years-ago|title=Republic Day story: On Ravi's banks, a pledge that shaped the course of modern India 88 years ago|website=[[Scroll.in]]|date=26 January 2018|access-date=16 August 2021|archive-date=30 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210730202934/https://scroll.in/article/866428/republic-day-story-on-ravis-banks-a-pledge-that-shaped-the-course-of-modern-india-88-years-ago|url-status=live}}</ref> A pledge of independence was read out, which included a readiness to withhold taxes. The massive gathering of the public attending the ceremony was asked if they agreed with it, and the majority of people were witnessed raising their hands in approval. 172 Indian members of central and provincial legislatures resigned in support of the resolution and in accordance with Indian public sentiment. The Congress asked the people of India to observe 26&nbsp;January as Independence Day.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-january-26-is-celebrated-as-republic-day-6230037/|title=Explained: Why India celebrates January 26 as Republic Day|date=30 January 2021|access-date=21 November 2021|archive-date=21 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121012116/https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-january-26-is-celebrated-as-republic-day-6230037/|url-status=live}}</ref> Congress volunteers, nationalists, and the public hoisted the flag of India publicly across India. Plans for mass civil disobedience were also underway.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Education|first=Pearson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ADFpDwAAQBAJ&pg=SA1-PA145|title=SSC topic-wise Previous Years Solved Papers General Awareness|isbn=978-93-5286-640-3|publisher=Pearson Education India}}</ref>

After the Lahore session of the Congress in 1929, Nehru gradually emerged as the paramount leader of the Indian independence movement. Gandhi stepped back into a more spiritual role. Although Gandhi did not explicitly designate Nehru as his political heir until 1942, as early as the mid-1930s, the country saw Nehru as the natural successor to Gandhi.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/opinion/op-ed/151118/the-greatest-indian-after-the-mahatma-why-gandhi-chose-nehru-to-lead.html|title=The greatest Indian after the Mahatma? Why Gandhi chose Nehru to lead India|first=Praveen|last=Davar|date=15 November 2018|website=Deccan Chronicle|access-date=21 November 2021|archive-date=21 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121011350/https://www.deccanchronicle.com/opinion/op-ed/151118/the-greatest-indian-after-the-mahatma-why-gandhi-chose-nehru-to-lead.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1929, Nehru had already drafted the "Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy" resolution that set the government agenda for an independent India.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Maheshwari|first=Neerja|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=okUSbReaevUC&pg=PA41|title=Economic Policy of Jawaharlal Nehru|date=1997|publisher=Deep & Deep|isbn=978-81-7100-850-6|pages=41|access-date=9 November 2018}}</ref> The resolution was ratified  in 1931 at the [[Karachi]] session chaired by [[Vallabhbhai Patel]].<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Pandey |editor-first=BN |title=The Indian Nationalist Movement 1885–1947: Select Documents |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KauwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PR7 |year=2015 |publisher=[[Springer Publishing]] |isbn=978-1-349-86215-3 |page=45}}</ref>

=== Salt March: 1930 ===
Nehru and most of the Congress leaders were ambivalent initially about Gandhi's plan to begin [[civil disobedience]] with a ''satyagraha'' aimed at the British [[salt tax]]. After the protest had gathered steam, they realised the power of salt as a symbol. Nehru remarked about the unprecedented popular response, "It seemed as though a spring had been suddenly released".<ref>[[Gopalkrishna Gandhi|Gandhi, Gopalkrishna]]. [http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article388858.ece "The Great Dandi March – eighty years after"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717030642/http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article388858.ece|date=17 July 2012}}, ''[[The Hindu]]'', 5 April 2010.</ref> He was arrested on 14&nbsp;April 1930 while on a train from Allahabad to [[Raipur]]. Earlier, after addressing a huge meeting and leading a vast procession, he had ceremoniously manufactured some contraband salt. He was charged with breach of the salt law and sentenced to six months of imprisonment at Central Jail.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Vinod|last=Khanal|title=Mahatma Gandhi describes Nehru's arrest in 1930 as 'rest'|website=[[Times of India]]|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/Mahatma-Gandhi-describes-Nehrus-arrest-in-1930-as-rest/articleshow/45140212.cms|date=13 November 2014|access-date=16 August 2021|archive-date=28 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128191124/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/Mahatma-Gandhi-describes-Nehrus-arrest-in-1930-as-rest/articleshow/45140212.cms|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.abhilekh-patal.in/jspui/handle/123456789/2754199?searchWord=nehru&backquery=&#91;query=nehru+liaquat+pact&originalquery=&sort_by=dc.date.accessioned_dt&order=desc&rpp=20&etal=0&start=100 |title=Civil Disobedience Movement in the United Provinces. Arrest of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru |publisher=United Provinces Government |year=1930 |location=New Delhi |pages=71 |chapter=Telegram Post No. 90, dated (and read) 14th April, 1930 |quote="For breaking Salt Law Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was arrested at Allahabad this morning." |access-date=9 September 2022 |url-access=registration |via=[[National Archives of India]] |archive-date=10 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010075306/https://www.abhilekh-patal.in/jspui/handle/123456789/2754199?searchWord=nehru&backquery=%5Bquery=nehru+liaquat+pact&originalquery=&sort_by=dc.date.accessioned_dt&order=desc&rpp=20&etal=0&start=100 |url-status=live }}</ref>

He nominated Gandhi to succeed him as the Congress president during his absence in jail, but Gandhi declined, and Nehru nominated his father as his successor.{{sfn|Moraes|2007|p=167}} With Nehru's arrest, the civil disobedience acquired a new tempo, and arrests, firing on crowds and [[Baton charge|lathi charges]] grew to be ordinary occurrences.{{sfn|Moraes|2007|p=168}}

==== Salt satyagraha success ====
The [[salt satyagraha]] ("pressure for reform through passive resistance") succeeded in attracting world attention. Indian, British, and world opinion increasingly recognised the legitimacy of the claims by the [[Congress party]] for independence. Nehru considered the salt satyagraha the high-water mark of his association with Gandhi,<ref>Fisher, Margaret W. June 1967. "India's Jawaharlal Nehru." ''[[Asian Survey]]'' 7(6):363–373 [368]. {{doi|10.2307/2642611}}. {{JSTOR|2642611}}</ref> and felt its lasting importance was in changing the attitudes of Indians:<ref>Johnson, Richard L. 2005. ''Gandhi's Experiments With Truth: Essential Writings By And About Mahatma Gandhi''. [[Lexington Books]]. {{ISBN|978-0-7391-1142-0}}. p. 37.</ref>

<blockquote>Of course these movements exercised tremendous pressure on the British Government and shook the government machinery. But the real importance, to my mind, lay in the effect they had on our own people, and especially the village masses.&nbsp;... Non-cooperation dragged them out of the mire and gave them self-respect and self-reliance.&nbsp;... They acted courageously and did not submit so easily to unjust oppression; their outlook widened and they began to think a little in terms of India as a whole.&nbsp;... It was a remarkable transformation and the Congress, under Gandhi's leadership, must have the credit for it.</blockquote>

=== In prison 1930–1935 ===
On 11 October 1930, Nehru's detention ended, but he was back in jail in less than ten days for resuming the presidency of the banned Congress.{{sfn|Gopal|1976|p=147}} On 26 January 1931, Nehru and other prisoners were released early by [[Lord Irwin]], who was negotiating with Gandhi.{{sfn|Moraes|2007|p=181}} His father died on 6 February 1931. Nehru was back in jail on 26 December 1931 after violating court orders not to leave Allahabad while leading a "no-rent" campaign to alleviate peasant distress.{{sfn|Gopal|1976|p=170}} On 30 August 1933, Nehru was released from prison, but the government soon moved to detain him again. On 22 December 1933, the [[Sir John Gilmour, 2nd Baronet|Home Secretary]] sent a memo to all local governments in India:

<blockquote>The Government of India regard him [Nehru] as by far the most dangerous element at large in India, and their view is that the time has come, in accordance with their general policy of taking steps at an early stage to prevent attempts to work up mass agitation, to take action against him.{{sfn|Gopal|1976|p=185}}</blockquote>

He was arrested in Allahabad on 12 January 1934.{{sfn|Gopal|1976|p=185}} In August 1934, he was briefly released for eleven days to attend to his wife's ailing health. In October, he was allowed to see her again, but he turned down an early release conditional on withdrawing from politics for the duration of his sentence.{{sfn|Moraes|2007|pp=255–256}}

=== 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}}