The Warrior and the Saint 155the unquestioned authority of Gandhi in Congress affairs. This did not
worry Tagore. On January 21, 1939, the poet welcomed the rebel presi-
dent of the Congress in the mango grove at his abode of peace. In reply
to his welcoming address, Subhas said: “Those of us who spend most
of our time in the po lit i cal life of the country feel very deeply about the
poverty of the inner life. We want the inspiration of the trea sure that
enriches the mind without which no man or nation can rise to great
heights. We seek that inspiration from you.”^45 For the next year and
half, Tagore would continue to be a rock of support for Bose during his
travails. Bose enjoyed the brief respite from Congress politics in the
idyllic setting of Tagore’s university, and mingled happily with Nanda-
lal Bose’s art students.
The presidential election debate turned quite nasty in late January.
Patel cabled Sarat Chandra Bose, his Working Committee colleague for
the previous three years, saying that Subhas’s reelection was unneces-
sary and that members of the Working Committee would issue a state-
ment supporting Sitaramayya. Sarat replied that Working Committee
colleagues ought to avoid taking sides, and expressed the view that Sit-
aramayya would not inspire con fi dence in the coming fight against the
British raj. Patel responded saying that Subhas’s “re- election is held to
be harmful to country’s cause,” much to the chagrin of the Bose broth-
ers. The press statements and counter- statements, as part of the elec-
tion campaign, dealt primarily with two issues: the attitude toward the
British scheme of federation with the princes, and the question of
intra- party democracy within the Congress. When Bose pointed out
the widespread belief in the “prospect of a compromise on the Federal
Scheme between the right- wing of the Congress and the British gov-
ernment,” he was accused of casting an “aspersion” on his colleagues.
He was correct in suspecting that informal talks were being held be-
tween top British of fi cials and a number of congressmen close to Patel
on possibly accepting an amended version of the federal part of the
Government of India Act of 1935. G. D. Birla, the industrial tycoon
close to the Congress right wing, had been hinting that such a deal was
possible. Since Bose was unable to supply hard evidence at the time to
substantiate his charge, the “aspersion affair” was not allowed to die
down even after the election was over. Bose claimed that Patel wanted