Gandhi and Subhas

Gandhiji was conservative, he believed in small scale and village industries while Subhas Bose as a modernist supported planning and heavy industrialization as a solution to the economic problems. Subhas was averse to the “Charkha politics” which Gandhi coterie assiduously followed. Subhas aimed for complete independence while Gandhi could never bring himself up to demand complete independence. According to Gandhi India was prepared for Dominions Status and Subhas’s insistence on demanding complete independence irked Gandhi. Gandhiji as an autocrat demanded complete subservience. Subhas was his rebel child who would not tow his line. This was not palatable to a dictator. Gandhi loved sycophancy and his coterie of Acharya Kripalani, Rajagopalachary, Vallabhbahi Patel, Govind Vallabh Pant and several other Congress leaders practised just that. Nehru was ambivalent. He could be easily brought under Gandhi’s control by promising power, but Subhas could not be tamed by the lure of power. Gandhi tried. He gave the presidentship to Subhas for a year hoping that power would set him straight just as it had done for Jawaharlal. But no, he discovered that power did not affect Subhas at all. Gandhi had a pet ideology, ahimsa. He have more prominence to the ideology than the interest of the Nation, of India’s freedom. Subhas had only one consideration - India’s freedom, whatever be the price. Gandhi wanted sainthood, Subhas wanted martyrdom for the sake of his country. Gandhi put a lot of emphasis on means, end to him was secondary. To Subhas, and unselfish end was everything, he would be willing to compromise with the devil to get freedom for his country.