---
title: "Poona Pact 1932: Ambedkar–Gandhi Agreement | Model Diplomat"
description: "The Poona Pact of 1932 replaced separate electorates for the Depressed Classes with reserved seats, marking a significant moment in India's political history."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/poona-pact-1932"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The Poona Pact was a 1932 agreement between B.
- R.
- What was the core difference between the Communal Award and the Poona Pact?
- Why did Ambedkar agree to the Poona Pact despite favouring separate electorates?
- How did the Poona Pact influence the Indian Constitution?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

The Poona Pact was a 1932 agreement between B.R. Ambedkar and M.K. Gandhi that replaced separate electorates for the Depressed Classes with reserved seats within joint electorates.

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## Timeline

1. 24 September 1932

   The Poona Pact was signed on at Yerwada Central Jail, Poona (Pune), and arose directly from the Communal Award announced by British Prime Minister Ramsay Ma…

2. 16 August 1932

   The Poona Pact was signed on 24 September 1932 at Yerwada Central Jail, Poona (Pune), and arose directly from the Communal Award announced by British Prime M…

3. 20 September 1932

   On he commenced a "fast unto death" against the provision.

## Positions at a glance

### Indian National Congress

The terms of the Poona Pact were subsequently incorporated, with modifications, into the Government of India Act 1935 and the accompanying communal arrangements that governed the 1937 provincial elections. The Indian National Congress endorsed the settlement, and across the country temple-entry movements and anti-untouchability campaigns gained momentum in its immediate aftermath; Gandhi founded the Harijan Sevak Sangh in late 1932 and the weekly Harijan in 1933 to carry forward social-reform work. The reservation principle the pact established for legislatures was later carried into independent India through Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution, which reserve seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.

### All-India Muslim League

The Poona Pact must be distinguished from the Communal Award it amended rather than abolished: the Award's grants to Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans remained intact, and only the clause on the Depressed Classes was altered. It should also be distinguished from the Lucknow Pact of 1916, a Congress–Muslim League agreement that affirmed separate electorates, and from the separate electorate concept itself, which the Poona Pact rejected in favour of reservation within a common roll. The conceptual core of the dispute was whether the Depressed Classes constituted a distinct political minority requiring an exclusive electorate or an integral part of the Hindu community requiring protected representation within it—Ambedkar holding the former view, Gandhi the latter.

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Example

In September 1932, B.R. Ambedkar signed the Poona Pact at Yerwada Jail to end Gandhi's fast against separate electorates for the Depressed Classes, securing 148 reserved provincial seats instead.

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