The Nature of the Pact

The Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the Muslim League could be considered an important event in the course of the nationalistic struggle for freedom.

While the League agreed to present joint constitutional demands with the Congress to the government, the Congress accepted the Muslim League’s position on separate electorates which would continue till any one community demanded joint electorates. The Muslims were also granted a fixed proportion

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After nearly ten years of painful separation and wanderings through the wilderness of misunderstanding and mazes of unpleasant controversies...both wings of Indian Nationalist Party have come to realise the fact that united they stand, but divided they fall.

A.C. Majumdar (president of the Lucknow session of

the INC—1916)

of seats in the legislatures at all-India and provincial levels. The joint demands were—

● Government should declare that it would confer self- government on Indians at an early date.

● The representative assemblies at the central as well as provincial level should be further expanded with an elected majority and more powers given to them.

● The term of the legislative council should be five years.

● The salaries of the Secretary of State for India should be paid by the British treasury and not drawn from Indian funds.

● Half the members of the viceroy’s and provincial governors’ executive councils should be Indians.