The Sapru Committee report was published in 1945. It was an Indian attempt to propose a constitutional scheme to accommodate different domestic political interests. It too made the case for universal suffrage. The Sapru committee claimed that even though political circumstances had changed, for example. the party structure had evolved. substantial changes in such matters could occur only after full responsible government had been introduced. it said. In keeping with this rationale, if reiterated the idea that the very exercise of franchise would provide the education necessary to enable a responsible politics. The support for universal franchise could also be seen in proclamations by major political actors. Nationalist leaders viewed restrictions on the franchise as colonical attempts to curh growing disaffection. Mohandas Gandhi. who returned from South Africa in 1915 and swiftly became the face of India's entire effort at emancipation, boldly declared in 1939 that he was unworried by illiteracy. He said he would plump for an unadulterated franchise for both men and women. The contribution of B.R. Ambedkar. who took up the cause of lower sections of the society during the anti-colonial struggle was significant in this regard. His focus on the issue of social divisions made him sensitive to restrictions on the right to vote. Qualifications based on education and property during colonial rule meant the defacto exclusion of lower sections of the society.
The Sapru Committee favoured universal suffrage to accommodate
