ABSTRACT
By October 1934 most of the prisoners convicted, or otherwise detained, for their participation in the civil disobedience movement had been released. The decision of the Congress leaders the previous May, under the influence of Dr. M. A. Ansari, to abandon their policy of boycotting the Legislatures and to contest the forthcoming elections, had led to Mr. Gandhi’s suspension of the general civil disobedience movement and, in consequence, the lifting of the ban by the Government on the various Congress organizations. The Indian National Congress was to meet for the first time for four years in the city where it was born almost fifty years previously. The Bombay Congress leaders were anxious to secure a site for the meeting within the city area, but the authorities, with an eye on the effects of such a vast concourse on the health and traffic conditions of the city, declined to agree.
