Poona Pact 1932 (B.R Ambedkar and M.K Gandhi)

The Poona Pact 1932 was an agreement between B.R. Ambedkar and M.K. Gandhi on the political representation of the Depressed Classes (a loose term that referred to Dalits/Untouchables/Scheduled Castes). A little more than a month earlier, Ramsay Macdonald, the British Prime Minister, announced the Communal Award that gave Depressed Classes separate electorates for central and provincial legislatures. Gandhi viewed this as a danger to the Hindu community that would de-link untouchables from Hindus. Ambedkar and other leaders of the Depressed Classes welcomed the award.

On 20^th September 1932, while in prison, Gandhi announced a fast unto death till the time separate electorates were removed from the Award. The British had have given the assurance that it would make changes to the Award if these changes were the result of an agreement between the communities concerned. Indian political leaders realised that the best chance to get Gandhi to terminate his fast was to facilitate an agreement between Gandhi and Ambedkar. Initially, Ambedkar was not fazed by Gandhi’s fast. But later, he came around and agreed to negotiate. In the end, Gandhi and Ambedkar came to an agreement – the Poona Pact 1932 – that discarded separate electorates.

The Poona Pact is a very short document written a quasi-legal style. It contained nine points, seven of which laid out the manner and quantum of representation of the Depressed Classes at the central and provincial legislatures. Separate electorates for Depressed Classes did not feature in the document, instead, the Pact put forward a system of the joint electorates with reserved seats. It reserved 148 seats from the general electorate for Depressed Classes,78 more than what the Award had proposed.

The Pact also called for the non-discrimination of Depressed Classes in public services and urged for efforts towards the fair representation of the community in public services. It also contained a provision that proposed the earmarking of a portion of the state’s educational grant for Depressed Classes.

The Pact was sent across to British authorities who then set aside the sections dealing with untouchables. Promptly, Gandhi broke his fast on 26^th September 1932. The Pact influenced the Government of India Act 1935, separate electorates were given to Muslims, Sikhs and others, but not to the Depressed Classes.

The leaders of the Depressed Classes, including Ambedkar, were not happy with the Poona Pact. Even though the numbers of seats reserved was double than what the Award had offered, separate electorates were viewed as a critical tool for political representation. Also, as Ambedkar himself argued, the Award had given Depressed Classes a double vote: they could use one vote for the separate electorates and another for the general electorate. Ambedkar felt that the second vote was ‘a political weapon was beyond reckoning’ for the protection of Depressed Classes’ interests.

The Pact was a historic moment in India’s constitutional and political history. It brought to bear the tensions between and the Depressed Classes and the Hindus, one that would continue to haunt the freedom movement and negotiations between Indians and the British. To a large extent, the Pact further reinforced and augmented the claim that Depressed Classes were a political minority whose interests could not be ignored while drawing up the constitutional future of India.