Simla Conference
[citation needed] On 14 June 1945 Lord Wavell announced a plan for a new Executive Council in which all members except the Viceroy and the Commander in Chief would be Indians.
On becoming Viceroy, Wavell’s most important task was to present a formula for the future government of India which would be acceptable to both the Indian National Congress and the All-India Muslim League.
[citation needed] Gandhi launched the Quit India Movement in August 1942, after which he was arrested with other Congress lieutenants like Nehru and Patel.
[circular reference] Now he decided to launch his ''Satyagraha'', he commenced after the early morning breakfast on 10 February 1943 a fast for 21 days.
Lord Wavell had a plan in mind and was eager to invite key leaders to a summit, but he was waiting for something to come out of the Gandhi-Jinnah meetings rescheduled on 9 September.
Gandhi by now believed that "Jinnah was a good person but he suffers hallucination when he imagines the unnatural division of India and creation of Pakistan".
Bengal's governor Richard Casey was well informed about Congress-League relations and he wrote to Wavell saying: "Congress is basically responsible for the growth of the Pakistan idea, by the way they treated the Muslims especially by refusing to allow them into the coalition provincial governments."
"[3] Churchill chaired his war cabinet that reviewed and rejected Wavell's proposal for constitutional reforms in India on 18 December.
Wavell was allowed to fly back to India in June 1945 to release Congress Working Committee members and start the talks that would later be called the Simla Conference.
[3] One day before the conference was convened on 24 June, Wavell met with Abul Kalam Azad, Gandhi and Jinnah to assess their approach.
Jinnah responded to this by speaking of Congress' predominantly Hindu character and at that point there was a tug of war which had to be quieted down by Wavell.
Thus the Wavell plan that was later to be called the Simla Conference failed in its objective and set the trend for the immediate topics that would dominate discourse until Indian independence.
These London talks resulted in the formulation of a definite plan of action which was officially made public simultaneously on 14 June 1945 by L.S.
Amery, the Secretary of State for India, in the House of Commons and by Wavell in a broadcast speech delivered from Delhi.
The Viceroy would convene a meeting of Indian politicians including the leaders of Congress and the Muslim League at which they would nominate members of the new Council.
If this plan were to be approved for the central government, then similar councils of local political leaders would be formed in all the provinces.
The Wavell Plan, in essence, proposed the complete "Indianisation" of the Executive Council, but instead of asking all the parties to nominate members to the Executive Council from all the communities, seats were reserved for members on the basis of religion and caste, with the caste Hindus and Muslims being represented on it on the basis of parity.
[citation needed] Meanwhile, a general election had been held in the United Kingdom in July 1945 which had brought the Labour Party to power.
