Proposal and Aim
- Proposed by: The Wavell Plan was proposed by Lord Archibald Wavell, British Viceroy of India, in 1945.
- Aim: To address the growing demand for Indian independence and provide a roadmap for constitutional progress.
What was the Plan?
- Except for the governor-general and the commander-in-chief, all members of the executive council were to be Indians.
- Caste Hindus and Muslims were to have equal representation.
- The reconstructed council was to function as an interim government within the framework of the Government of India Act of 1935.
- The governor-general was to exercise his veto based on the advice of ministers.
- Representatives from different parties were to submit a joint list to the viceroy for nominations to the executive council. If a joint list was not possible, separate lists could be submitted.
- Possibilities for negotiations on a new constitution were to be kept open once the war was won.
Objections
- League
- The League wanted all Muslim members to be nominated by the League.
- This was due to the League’s fear that the aims of other minorities (depressed classes, Sikhs, Christians, etc.) aligned with those of the Congress.
- The League believed this arrangement would reduce its representation to a one-third minority.
- Congress
- The Congress objected to the plan, calling it “an attempt to reduce the Congress to the status of a purely caste Hindu party.”
- The Congress insisted on its right to include members of all communities among its nominees.