The Failure of the First Round Table Conference was marked by the absence of the Indian National Congress.
The Second Round Table Conference was held in a less favourable environment. In India, Lord Irwin had been succeeded by Lord Willingdon. In England, The Labour Government was now replaced by a National Coalition Government. Samuel Hoare was the Secretary of State for the Government of India.
Meanwhile, there was a robust protest in India against the statement of Winston Churchill who called Gandhi a ‘Naked Seditious Fakir’. The Second Round Table Conference opened on September 7th00, 1931. Gandhiji represented the Indian National Congress and Sarojini Naidu represented Indian women. Madan Mohan Malaviya, Ghanshyam Das Birla, Muhammad lqbal, Sir Mirza Ismail, S.K. Dutta and Sir Syed Ali Imam were among the other people who attended the conference.
This session witnessed a prodigious number of Indian delegates. These included loyalists, landlords, representatives of the princes etc. Gandhiji put forth many demands being the only official representative of the Congress.
Introduction of a responsible government in India was one of the many demands. But, it remained a dream till our independence. Gandhiji opposed the demand to treat the Dalits as a minority separate from the Hindu community and on this issue he had a clash with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The conference was concluded on December 11th, 1931 and Gandhiji returned almost empty handed.