India without WW2

What would happen to India if we avoid the Second World War? After 1937 the Indian National Congress had control of many provincial governments, but the Congress itself was increasingly polarised between the socialist Left and the Gandhian Right. Meanwhile, the urban poor and the Muslim minority were becoming increasingly militant and alienated from the INC. Also, the Princes were not enthusiastic about federation.

Can the British retain control over India for longer than OTL? Will the fragmentation of the nationalist movement continue, and will the popularity of socialism increase? (with Nehru or Bose possibly gaining greater influence over Gandhi within the INC?)
 
Sure they can maintain it longer, but will they? It was expensive and while the nationalists didn't always get along they certainly hated the British more than each other. It just doesn't make sense to the average Indian to be under British rule except for the threat of force (nationalism was "the" ideology in the colonies.).
 
Sure they can maintain it longer, but will they? It was expensive and while the nationalists didn't always get along they certainly hated the British more than each other. It just doesn't make sense to the average Indian to be under British rule except for the threat of force (nationalism was "the" ideology in the colonies.).

That's true, the economic advantages of India to Britain were declining before the war, I guess that the constitutional direction of the country will depend on whether Labour or the Conservatives are in power.

I would caution against the idea that the nationalists were unified, the British did their best to accentuate the religious and caste divides of India. The nationalists only became unified when the British provoked a major controversy, and all the campaigns collapsed in time due to communal violence and distrust. And it's easy to say that all political agents in India were 'nationalists' but there were so many conflicting nationalist ideas by the late 1930s.
 
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