On January 27th, 1948, 3 days before his assassination, Mahatma Gandhi had written an article, suggesting that the Congress party be dissolved and all its members should become volunteers of an organization he called the Lok Sevak Sangh.
It remains a mystery to this day as to why Congress did not heed this last wish of the Mahatma.
A copy of this article is reproduced at the end of this post. In an earlier post, we had mentioned this fact. In that we had quoted Kalyanam, the last Personal Secretary of the Mahatma:
“Gandhiji had strong reasons for such a demand. The Congress was launched to agitate for Indian independence. It had no other missions. The party could mobilize the countrymen and draw the support of the whole country only because of the cause for which it was fighting. Once the country became free from the Colonial rule, the purpose of Congress too was over. What Gandhi asked the leaders was to disband the organization and set up a Lok Sevak Sangh or Servants of the Nation, towards working for the welfare of the whole countrymen,”…
The last paragraph in the article bears mention. It is almost as if Gandhiji is prescient:
I have only opened to view the distant scene. If I have the time and health, I hope to discuss in these columns what the Servants of the Nation can do to raise themselves in the estimation of their masters, the whole of the adult population, male and female.
It remains a mystery to this day as to why Congress did not heed this last wish of the Mahatma. Did the party, drunk on power, wanted to continue to enjoy the good life? In a scenario in which there was no Congress as a political party, Gandhi envisions a group of city dwellers who would step in to provide the political leadership required to steer the country.
Below is a copy of the article that appeared on the February 1st, 1948 issue of The Harijan:
Another mention of the same article has also appeared in National Standard on February 9, 1948:
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The will of Mahatma Gandhi is in Gujarati language and not in the English language. I have a copy of the last will of gandhi.
Today’s Congress is not the Indian National Congress as they claim everywhere and the media has made everyone believe that it is. It is in fact Indira National Congress. Where can you find children of Tilak, Gokhale, Patel, Bose, Naidu, Azad and other stalwarts who fought for the Independence. Its only one single family left, right and center. We only hope Modi fulfills the last wish of the Mahatma.
so, what if they did not listen to Gandhiji. HMS also did not listen to Gandhiji or follow his principles. Have
you got to say anything on that.
The difference is HMS did not use Mahatma Gandhi for votes.
Does this matter now? Already congress ruled for 70 years and ruined the country
Hope BJP does well in next election and keep them away. Latest GST measures though highly sensible does not look popular. BJP need to do some populist measures and stay in power or else congress crooks will come back and haunt us again
True