The acting Governor of Fiji, Alfred W. Seymour, despite European opposition, declared 15 May as a public holiday and as a day of rejoicing.
Vishnu Deo and his supporters wanted the day to be marked as a day of mourning and on 12 May, at a meeting in Lautoka, it was decided to form the Fiji Indian National Congress.
On 14 May, at another meeting in Suva, Dr Hamilton Beattie, who had taken upon himself the responsibility of improving the status of the Indian community, formed another organisation with the same name.
Vishnu Deo wrote to Jawaharlal Nehru, asking for a copy of the constitution on the Indian National Congress, saying that Indians in Fiji wanted to form a similar Congress and Nehru gave his blessing.
We intend to take up the work of educating the masses for political consciousness,The Congress did not manage to achieve the stated goal, as Patel had hoped, of uniting the Indians in Fiji and disagreement over the distribution of relief funds following floods in 1930 caused the non-Hindu members to leave the Congress.