Congress in Office It is generally recognised that the Congress
decision, at Wardha last week, to accept office under the new Constitution has created a new political position in India. Though the Work- ing Committee has asserted, and Mr. Nehru has repeated, that no question can arise of co-operation between the Congress and the Government of India, the acceptance of office im- plicitly recognises that in fact a " partnership " exists. The minority Ministries in Bihar, the Central Provinces, Orissa, Madras, Bombay and the United Provinces, where Congress has majorities, are all expected to have resigned by the end of this week ; in the Central Provinces a Congress Ministry has already been formed ; and the Legislatures are due to meet in Madras and Bombay in the next few days. Thus, at length, the Constitution is about to be put into practice- by men who are undoubtedly the proper representatives of the Indian nation. Their electoral programme contained extensive plans of social reform, and in the immediate future the development of India will depend on how much or how little of this programme can be realised by the responsible Congress Ministries in the six provinces. It has been the consistent view of Mr. Nehru and his followers that under the Constitution no solution can be found for the terrible social and economic problems of India. It may be said now that Mr. Gandhi and Lord Linlithgow between them have succeeded in making another view prevail and India's future is perhaps brighter at this moment than at any time in recent years.
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