Ambedkar clashed with the representatives of the Indian princes

Ambedkar clashed with the representatives of the Indian princes in his demand for elected representatives from the princely states. The maharaja of Bikaner, Sir Ganga Singh, pointedly said that the traditional rulers could not be expected to give the nationalists a blank cheque; Ambedkar responded bluntly to the effect that sovereignty resided with the people and not with their rulers, whereas the Mahatma assured the princes that the Congress had no intention of interfering in their internal affairs. (In this, Ambedkar’s view was to prevail over the Mahatma’s; before the decade was out the Congress had established a States People’s Conference to fight for the rights of the people of the princely states, with a unit in each state.)

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Notes of Nagesh

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