It was a surprise for many. Gandhi said candidly that he did not like Subhash Chandra Bose right from the beginning. He did not like Bose being elected president again. He did not agree to what Bose said in his statements. 

Bose was uncharitable to some of his colleagues. It could not be justified. It was unbecoming of a person like Bose. That was why he recommended Pattabhi as the candidate. And that was why he asked Pattabhi not to withdraw from the contest. Saying so, Gandhi congratulated Bose. But he took it as his own defeat and thought the Congress delegates did not approve of his policies and ideology.

But the Indian National Congress leaders somehow managed to appease Gandhi at the close of the session by adopting a resolution that he was indispensable as the party’s leader and that the president of the party should nominate the members of the executive of the party only as per Gandhi’s wish.