The new President

AT its meeting on Saturday the Legislative Assembly elected Mr VJ Patel its President in place of Sir Frederick Whyte. While several names had been mentioned, only two candidates were actually nominated. Mr Rangachari, the defeated candidate, got 56 votes while Mr Patel got 58. As the election was by ballot, it is not possible to say with absolute precision who voted for whom. But every one who knows anything about the nature of the canvassing that preceded the election can form a fairly close idea of the lines on which the voting must have gone. Mr Patel’s 58 must have consisted of the solid Swarajist block of about 43 members — the only Swarajists present on the day at Simla — and 15 other members, mostly, if not solely, Independents. Mr Rangachari’s 56 supporters were an equally solid block of official and semi-official members, also about 43, and about 13 elected Indian members, Independent and Liberal. Apart from all questions of the respective merits of the two candidates, the election of Mr Patel is thus a matter for sincere congratulation, because it saved the Assembly from the unfortunate position of having in the Chair as its own nominee a person whom the overwhelming majority of the elected and non-official members did not want.

Having said this, we are free to add that we consider it extremely unfortunate that the attempt that is known to have been made to have the first elected President of the Assembly put in the chair with a virtually unanimous non-official vote did not succeed. The proposal did not lack influential backing. Indeed, some of the principle supports of the two contending candidates met on Thursday evening to arrive at a unanimous decision, if possible.