Congress Ministry in U.P. 1937-39

The British started the constitutional process in India to win the hearts of Indians, to associate them with administration and to bring as many Indians as possible close to the administration. Consequently, the U.P. Legislative Council came into existence in January 1887, under the statute of 1861. The British started giving more opportunities to people in the post 1857 period under the changed political environment of the country. Some leading Indians got an opportunity to participate in the administration by the Indian Council Acts of 1892 and 1909. The aim of the Act of 1919, was the gradual establishment of responsible government in India. Through it the constitutional process was widened. By the Act of 1935, the provincial autonomy was introduced in the provinces. A period of partnership with the British which began in 1887, later on blossomed into a full-grown institution, and during these six decades, it played an important part in the struggle for freedom from the British imperial rule through constitutional politics.

The electoral process became more real and the Indians had an opportunity on the one hand to associate themselves with the administration and on the other to enhance their importance in the eyes of the people, working as legislators, ministers and in other capacities. Therefore, the period from 1937 to 1939 is the most significant phase of the U.P.'s contribution to the freedom struggle. Thus the democratic process began. Opportunities were seized to demand swaraj, dominion status or independence and efforts were made to ventilate the grievances of the people through speeches in the legislature.

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