3. Assurance will not be loss to Governor, nor it will be Gain to Congress. - Page 317

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ASSURANCE WILL NOT BE LOSS TO GOVERNOR ; NOR IT WILL BE GAIN TO CONGRESS.

Bombay, April 8, 1937.

“Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Barrister-at-Law, has issued the following statement on the constitutional impasse in India :

“Having lost the field to the Congress I did not think it necessary to express my views on the situation that has arisen, as a result of the refusal of the Governors to give an undertaking to the Congress leaders in terms of the All- India Congress Committee resolution. But as some friends pressed me to say what I think of the situation, I have persuaded myself to enter into the controversy.

I cannot understand why Congressmen blame the Governor for framing what are called interim Ministries, and I am somewhat surprised to find that Congressmen who are so unwilling to accept offices and whose programme was to wreck the Constitution, instead of having a sigh of relief at the installation of the interim ministries, should be so glamorous and indignant at the loss of the chance, that one begins to suspect that their cry of wrecking the Constitution was a mere pose.

Governor not to Blame

When a party which has a majority refuses to accept office, it is the duty of the Governor to offer it to those who can give him the assurance that they can secure the majority in the Legislature to support their policy. The persons to blame are not the Governors, but the men who have accepted offices. It is for those who have accepted offices to consider, whether they would not be held guilty of deceiving the Governor, should they fail to produce the necessary majority on the floor of the House. The Governors will come in for blame only if they were to use their special powers under the Constitution to keep in office ministers who have lost the confidence of the majority of the Legislature, because under the Instrument of Instructions issued to them, the Governors have been