Gandhi, Ambedkar and the Poona pact, 1932

This paper was originally presented at a Conference held by the Department of History, Sydney University on “The Indian National Congress” in February, 1985. I am deeply obliged to my colleague, Dr Hari Dev Sharma, for the help he has given me in writing this essay. His knowledge of the sources as well as of the events associated with this period have made my task much easier than it would have been otherwise. However, any shortcomings in interpretation are to be attributed exclusively to the author.