A Sight to First Round Table Conference

The first round table conference had its representation between November 1930 and January 1931. It was officially inaugurated by His Majesty George V on 12^th November, 1930. The inauguration was conducted in the Royal Gallery House of Lords at London. It was chaired by the British Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald.

Sixteen delegates represented the three British political parties. The time witnessed a presence of fifty – eight political leaders from British India and sixteen delegates from the princely states. Thus, in total 74 Indian delegates attended the Conference. There were many who stayed away from this conference. Indian National Conference along with Indian business leaders kept away from this conference. It was known that many of them were present in jail for their participation in Civil Disobedience Movement.

The conference was started with six plenary meetings where delegates presented their issues. Nine sub committees formed to deal with different matters like federal structure, provincial constitution, province of Sindh and NWFP, etc.

By: Bhavna Sharma