Why is it said that the first Round Table Conference was not that effective?

       The Round Table Conferences were a series of conferences aimed to discuss the future of India.

            Demands for Swaraj or self-rule had been growing across India. By the 1930s, many British politicians believed that India needed to move towards a dominion status. In order to make decisions regarding this, they conducted three Round Table Conferences in London. 

   The first one among these was organized in England on November 12th, 1930. There were 89 delegates from India who attended the conference. Indian delegates also made their presence felt in the conference, but no member of the Indian National Congress was invited. It was also true that many of the Indian leaders were imprisoned for their participation in the civil disobedience movement.

          Later, the British realized that they would have to work with the Congress as it was India’s most prominent party. As a gesture of goodwill, Gandhiji and other Congress leaders were released.