ABSTRACT
The proposal to hold the annual session of the Muslim League in Bombay in the Christmas week of 1915, so as to synchronize it with that of the Congress, had met with fierce opposition in and outside the Muslim League Council, but it was pushed through by the Raja of Mahmudabad, Wazir Hasan of Lucknow and Jinnah. The ‘young group’, headed by Mazhar-ul-Haq, Jinnah, Mahmudabad and Wazir Hasan, found a safer venue in the Taj Mahal Hotel for the rest of the proceedings. Jinnah had joined the League only three years earlier, but he was reputed to be a disciple of Dadabhai Naoroji and Gokhale, and was held in high esteem in Congress circles. His election to the League presidency was designed to facilitate negotiations with the Congress, whose leaders geared themselves to make generous concessions to Muslim demands. The Christmas week of 1916 was the high watermark of Jinnah’s career.
