[1] On 8 August 1940, early in the Battle of Britain, the Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithgow, made the so-called "August Offer" at Simla, a fresh proposal promising the expansion of the Executive Council to include more Indians, the establishment of an advisory war council, giving weight to minority opinion, and the recognition of Indians' right to frame their own constitution after the end of the war.
Linlithgow prefaced his proposal by reiterating that the differences in ideologies that separated the All-India Muslim League and the Indian National Congress must be bridged before any significant constitutional settlement was made.
Nevertheless, the Viceroy announced that the British government was now willing to move forward with governmental changes that would "associate Indian public opinion with the conduct of the war.
[4] The declaration marked an important advance over the existing state of things, as it recognised at least the natural and inherent right of the people of the country to determine the form of their future constitution, and explicitly promised Dominion status.
[7] The Congress Working Committee meeting at Wardha on 21 August 1940 eventually rejected the offer, and asserted its demand for complete freedom from the imperial power.
To allay Muslim fears of Hindu domination, the August Offer had been accompanied with the promise that a future constitution would take the views of minorities into consideration.
The radicals and leftists wanted to launch a mass civil disobedience movement, but here Gandhi insisted on Individual Satyagraha, which was not to seek independence but to affirm the right of speech.