A Pyrrhic victory

IN SPITE of the majority which Mr JM Sengupta was able to secure in favour of the resolutions at the last meeting of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee, we feel no hesitation in saying that his was a Pyrrhic victory. The very fact that the minorities were as large as they were shows this beyond the possibility of doubt. The resolution on the Krishnagar Conference was carried by 137 votes against 102, while the principal resolution itself, that on the Bengal Pact, was carried by 153 votes against 88. That in spite of the prestige of his position, as well as the support given to him by Pandit Nehru, President of the Swaraj Party, Mrs Sarojini Naidu, President of the Congress, and Mrs Das, Mr Sengupta was not able to secure a larger majority in favour of his resolutions is a fact of unmistakable significance. Secondly, even the majorities he did get were obtained by excluding a considerable number of otherwise eligible members from the voting list, on the ground that they had not paid in their subscriptions. The technical validity of the ground none will dispute, but Mr Sengupta will perhaps be the first person to admit that the question of disqualifying these members from exercising their voting power would never have arisen if the Committee had not been divided into two hostile camps. In any case, when we are considering the respective strength of the two sides to the controversy, the fact that some members on one side had paid their subscription is not a matter of primary or decisive weight. Thirdly, one has only to see the list of those opposed to the resolutions to find at what cost the victory was won.