Sharma : Was the Congress organisation quite widespread in your district?
Chavan : In my district, yes, It was. There were all the wokers, who had gone to jail in 1930. those people who had joined us during the election campaigns of 1934 and 1937 and the younger generation to which I beloged. Some of them had started going to colleges and universities. I think our party was quite strong in my district.
Sharma : As President of the District Congress committee, what efforts did you make to broad-base the party?
Chavan : I went round the district and held meetings of the congress workers, kept in touch with the young people in Kolhapur and Poona colleges and other centres of education, and brought them into the mainstream of our congress movement. I was expecting that this would develop into a great struggle. This was my own expectation in 1940-41 and it came ture.
Sharma : What was the character of the party? was it still city-based?
Chavan : No, it was not city-based. We had certainly the support of the city, but in the 1940s the party had quite a good support in the rural areas. That is why, I say the party was a very broad-based mass party, in my district at least.
