--- title: "Second Round Table Conference (1931) | Model Diplomat" description: "The Second Round Table Conference (1931) was the London session Gandhi attended for the Congress; it collapsed over communal representation. Key UPSC GS1 topic." url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/second-round-table-conference" --- [New](https://modeldiplomat.com/) # Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026 TL;DR - The Second Round Table Conference was a constitutional negotiation held in London from September to December 1931 in which Mahatma Gandhi represented the Indian National Congress. - Why did Gandhi attend the Second Round Table Conference but not the first? - Why did the Second Round Table Conference fail? - What was the connection between the conference and the Communal Award? - How did the Second Round Table Conference influence the Government of India Act, 1935? [Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026 The Second Round Table Conference was a constitutional negotiation held in London from September to December 1931 in which Mahatma Gandhi represented the Indian National Congress. Go beyond the definition ## Research Second Round Table Conference like a delegate Model Diplomat's AI drafts position papers, speeches, and country research with real sources — built for MUN and politics students. ## Timeline 1. 1 December 1931 The Second Round Table Conference convened in London from 7 September to as the central session in a three-conference series (1930–1932) summoned by the Bri… 2. 26 January 1930 The conferences originated in the recommendation of the Simon Commission (1927–1930) and the response to the Indian National Congress's Purna Swaraj (complet… 3. 5 March 1931 The second session became politically significant because it followed the Gandhi–Irwin Pact of , an agreement between Mahatma Gandhi and Viceroy Lord Irwin u… 4. 16 August 1932 On 1 December 1931 the conference closed without agreement on the communal question, and MacDonald announced that the British government would itself frame a… 5. 24 September 1932 The Communal Award that emerged after the second session—and the Poona Pact of between Gandhi and Ambedkar that revised it by substituting reserved seats wi… ## Positions at a glance ### Indian National Congress The Second Round Table Conference convened in London from 7 September to 1 December 1931 as the central session in a three-conference series (1930–1932) summoned by the British government to settle the future constitutional structure of India. The conferences originated in the recommendation of the Simon Commission (1927–1930) and the response to the Indian National Congress's Purna Swaraj (complete independence) declaration of 26 January 1930. The first session (November 1930–January 1931) had proceeded without Congress, which was then engaged in the Civil Disobedience Movement and the Salt Satyagraha. The second session became politically significant because it followed the Gandhi–Irwin Pact of 5 March 1931, an agreement between Mahatma Gandhi and Viceroy Lord Irwin under which the Congress suspended civil disobedience and agreed to participate, while the government released political prisoners and conceded the right to make salt for domestic use along the coast. ### All-India Muslim League The conference's work split along two axes that proved irreconcilable. The Federal Structure Committee examined a scheme for an all-India federation embracing both the directly governed provinces and the nominally sovereign princely states, with debate over the degree of responsibility to be granted at the centre and the reservation of defence and external affairs to the Crown. The Minorities Committee became the decisive battleground. Gandhi insisted that the Congress alone spoke for the whole nation, including Muslims, Depressed Classes, and other groups, and opposed separate electorates for minorities as a device that institutionalised division. Against him stood the Muslim League under Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Depressed Classes leader Dr B. R. Ambedkar, who demanded separate representation for untouchables, the Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Indian Christians, and Europeans, several of whom jointly pressed a "Minorities Pact." ## Research it like a delegate Research on modeldiplomat.com ## Ask a follow-up about Second Round Table Conference Open a cited briefing in Model Diplomat search — timelines, positions, and sources you can use in committee or exam answers. [Start research on Second Round Table Conference](https://modeldiplomat.com/search?q=Explain%20Second%20Round%20Table%20Conference%20%E2%80%94%20key%20dates%2C%20actors%2C%20positions%2C%20and%20sources) Example In 1931, Mahatma Gandhi sailed to London as the Indian National Congress's sole representative to the Second Round Table Conference, returning to India in December without any settlement on the communal question. 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