of the League who were part of the interim government refused to participate in the ‘informal’ consultations that Nehru held before the formal meeting of the cabinet in the viceroy’s presence. The Muslim League, it seemed, were determined to wreck the interim government from within. Gandhi in Naokhali While the Congress scored impressive victories in the July–August elections and secured from out of the general seats, the Muslim League did equally well in seats reserved for the Muslims. The League’s tally was .
All but one of the seats came from the Muslim-reserved constituencies. The League, however, decided against participating in the Constituent Assembly. Hence, only members attended the first session of the Constituent Assembly on December . basis of this list.
Later Hare Krishna Mahtab was replaced by Sarat Chandra Bose. The Parsi nominee, N.P. Engineer was replaced by Cooverji Hormusji Bhabha. In place of the League’s nominees, the Congress put in the names of three of its own men: Asaf Ali, Shafaat Ahmed Khan and Syed Ali Zaheer.
Violent Clashes on Direct Action Day The League, meanwhile, gave a call for ‘Direct Action’ on August . There was bloodshed in Calcutta and several other places, including in Delhi. This was when Gandhi set out on his own course to arrive in Calcutta and decided to stay on at a deserted house in Beliaghatta, a locality that was worst affected, accompanied only by a handful of followers. Muslims who were hounded out of their homes in Delhi were held in transit camps (in Purana Quila and other places).
It was only after Gandhi arrived there (on September ) and conveyed that the Muslims were Indian nationals and hence must be protected by the Indian state (Nehru by then was the head of the interim government) that the Delhi authorities began organising rations and building latrines. It was in this context that the Congress agreed to the constitution of the interim government. Nehru assumed office on September . Yet another round of communal violence broke out across the country and more