Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/187

 decided that the NationaUsts should prevent the attempted retrogression of the Congress by all Constitutional means even by opposing the election of the Pre- sident, if necessary ; and a letter was written to the Congress Secretaries requesting them to make arrangements for dividing the house, if need be, on every con- tested proposition, including that of election of the President.

In the meanwhile, a press-note was issued by the Reception Committee to the effect that the statement that certain resolutions adopted in 1906 were omitted from the Congress Programme prepared by the Surat Reception Committee was wholly unfounded ; but the draft resolutions themselves were still with-held from the public ; on the morning of the 25th December, Mr. Tilak happened to get a copy of the draft of the proposed Constitution of the Congress prepared by the Hon. Mr. Gokhale. In this draft, the object of the Congress was thus stated : " The Indian National Congress has for its ultimate goal, the attainment by India of Self-Government similar to that enjoyed by the other members of the British Empire. Mr. Tilak, addressing a meeting of the Delegates the same morning, at the Congress Camp, explained how this Constitution was devised to exclude the Nationalists from the Congress by making the acceptance of this new creed an indispensable condition of the Congress membership. Mr. Tilak further stated in plain terms, that if they were assured that no sliding back of the Congress would be attempted, the opposition to the election of the President would be withdrawn. The Delegates at the meeting were asked to sign a letter to Dr. Ghose re-