326 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
“conspirators”. We were only three, Sir Chintamani, Shrinivas Shastri and myself who hugged only hearts with the British India. We had put him—(Shastri) up our Champion, being a glorious man who can command greater respect than a youngster one like me. A day before when he was to speak at the Plenary Session, I and Chintamani took him to lunch to know whether he was still sour. We found that he was. We walked from Jenny street to King James Palace when at
3 O’ clock Rt. Hon’ble was scheduled to speak. My friends ! What did he say ? He got up and said, “My dear Prime Minister, I am a Champion”. My heart and Sir Chintamani’s were strong enough, otherwise we should have died of heart failure. Mr. Shastri said that he was in favour of Federation and he was running after me telling me that I was a strong patriot and I was up-turning our apple cans, why don’t you keep quiet ? If Mr. Gandhi was sincere and if the cause of the people of Indian States was dearer to him, it was necessary that they should be emancipated from the tyranny and oppression of personal rule of the Princes. He was the first man who ought to have said that representation should be made by elections. Mr. Gandhi instead said, he was in favour of the Princes nominating their representatives. I may tell you one thing. There is one thing, I know that Mr. Gandhi knows very little of politics, (Laughter), I am not saying this in any carping spirit. I am not passing any judgement over him nor to receive cheap applause. But I know it is fact. What happened is this, I was present at the First R.T.C. Mr. Gandhi was not obvious I knew many things and snags, I knew what strategy and tactics different parties were adopting and I was very anxious that before Mr. Gandhi opened his mouth he should be warned about the land of lies, so that he may know what he should say and what he should not. At the second R.T.C. when Mr. Gandhi came I was also a member of Federal Structure Committee. Of course being a representative of the Scheduled Castes, I could not expect to have the first place by the side of the Lord Chancellor who presided (Laughter). Giving the order of names of persons, I sat somewhere in the last. Obviously, when Mr. Gandhi came on the first day, an agenda was placed before us for discussion. I was very much worried by the fact that having regard to Mr. Gandhi’s immaturity