160 HIS MAJESTY’S OPPONENT
“smell violence in the air.” He conceded that he was “an old man, per-
haps growing timid and over- cautious,” while Bose had the “reckless
optimism born of youth.” Yet he believed that Congress “cannot offer
civil disobedience worth the name.” If Bose was right about the coun-
try being ready for a new struggle, then Gandhi felt that he himself was
“a back number and played out as the generalissimo of Satyagraha.”^57
Not ready to be turned back so easily, Subhas thought it was a “mag-
nifi cent idea” to have a “heart- to- heart talk” between the leaders of the
two wings of the party, as the Mahatma had suggested to Sarat. Their
points of agreement, in Bose’s view, outweighed their points of dis-
agreement. Besides, Bose suggested to Gandhi, “there is a world of dif-
ference between yourself and your lieutenants, even your chosen lieu-
tenants. There are people who will do anything for you—but not for
them.” He added innocently, “There was no quarrel between yourself
and myself.” He was glad Gandhi had written that their “private rela-
tions will not suf fer,” whatever else happened. Bose believed in the
Deshbandhu’s saying: “Life is larger than politics.”^58
So far as politics was concerned, Bose preferred a “composite” cabi-
net drawn from the various strands of nationalist politics. Gandhi went
on asking him to go ahead with a “homogeneous” cabinet of those who
happened to be in a majority. In a classic maneuver of noncooperation,
Gandhi refused to suggest any names for the Working Committee and
urged Bose to form his own executive. This, as Bose pointed out, might
be acting “in accordance with Gandhiji’s wishes,” but could not result
in an executive that commanded Gandhi’s “implicit con fi dence,” as the
Pant resolution demanded. “The more I study it [Pant’s resolution],”
Gandhi replied disingenuously, “the more I dislike it.” Although Bose’s
own predilection was to include half of the members from each of the
two wings of the party, he was prepared by mid- April to let Gandhi
nominate the entire Working Committee in an attempt to resolve the
crisis. If Gandhi refused to do so, Bose wondered whether the All- India
Congress Committee might elect the Working Committee.^59 A call for
more democracy within the Congress was certain to leave Gandhi’s fol-
lowers unmoved at this critical moment, when their standing had been
undermined through an election.
While showing utmost respect toward the saint, the warrior took up