August Offer & Individual Satyagraha, 1940

During the course of the Second World War, in order to secure the cooperation of the Indians, the British Government made an announcement on 8 August, 1940, which came to be known as the August Offer. The August Offer envisaged that after the War a representative body of Indians would be set up to frame the new Constitution.

Gandhi was not satisfied with the offer and decided to launch Individual Satyagraha. Individual Satyagraha was limited, symbolic and non-violent in nature and it was left to Mahatma Gandhi to choose the Satyagrahis.

Acharya Vinoba Bhave was the first to offer Satyagraha and he was sentenced to three months imprisonment. Jawaharlal Nehru was the second Satyagrahi and imprisoned for four months. The individual Satyagraha continued for nearly 15 months.