Page:The Life of Lokamanya Tilak.djvu/239

 gates was completely and exclusively in the hands " of the Moderate Associations. ** It was unreasonable to expect that one party should seek admission to the Congress through the associations entirely controlled and managed by the other/' The only course, therefore, that could bring the Nationahsts in the National Congress was so to amend Article XX of the Congress Constitution as to enable them to elect their delegates at public meetings or meetings of Nationalist Associations. Everything depended on the Moderate leaders* willingness to alter Article XX of the Congress Constitution in the desired manner.

The rest of the story is soon told.* " Mrs. Besant accompanied by Mr. Subba Rao, the General Secretary of the Madras Congress (1914) went to Poona in the first week of December (1914) and conferred with Messrs. Tilak, Gokhale and other leading publicists of Poona. The suggested amendment of Article XX of the Congress Constitution was agreed upon. Then Mr. Subba Rao went over to Bombay to consult Sir Pherozeshah; he returned disappointed. Then he met Mr. Tilak, had a long talk with him, which frightened him as well as- Mr. Gokhale to whom it was subsequently reported. Mr. Gokhale was convinced, that Mr. Tilak's re-entry into the Congress Camp would only be a signal for a renewal of the old struggle. He, therefore, withdrew his support from the proposed amendment, sent an oral message to Mrs. Besant accordingly and in reply to a letter from the President-elect, wrote to him a confidential letter explaining the reasons of his change of view. That letter or its re'ised copy 'became publia


 * From the Amrit Bazat Pairika (12th January 191 5).