He resumed his political battle in 1899 with an inspiring article in ‘Kesari’ calling upon all the groups of Congress to sort out their difference and come together to continue battle for independence. He appeared to be in a hurry. May be, he wanted to make up for the lost time in Tai Maharaj case.
Since Tilak had been charged with treason, many of the Congress leaders of softline group were keeping a distance from Tilak. They were afraid of his aggressive politicking fearing the implications.
Many softline leaders protested when Tilak proposed a resolution to impeach Bombay’s Governor, Lord Sandhurst for his misrule in Lucknow session of the Congress party.
The Congress President even issued a threat that he would resign if Tilak’s proposal was put to vote.
Creating dissensions in the party was not the aim of Tilak. So, he withdrew his proposal to save the party from further in-fighting.
Many a time even his honest efforts were misunderstood. His anger against the governor was justified and genuine.
The very next year in the Bombay’s Provincial session of the Congress party he proposed the same resolution.
The soft liners again protested against it.
The president of the session, Shri Parikh somehow persuaded Tilak to withdraw his resolution as it was too severely aggressive for the liking of soft leaders. For the sake of the unity in party, Tilak again obliged by withdrawing his resolution.
But Tilak was not reconciled to it.
He sharply criticized the jelly like behaviour of the party leaders and spineless policies of the Congress in his ‘Kesari’. He wrote—‘These Congress sessions appear to be meant for cowards and the stooges of the government. They only know begging, pleading and forwarding applications to English governors. These sessions should be for the people who can raise their voices fearlessly against the injustice and the misdeeds of the governments and the administrations. The attitude of the Congress president of the session was illegal and arbitrary.’
The next general session of the party was held at Calcutta which was attended by Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi as well. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was put up in the same block as Gandhi. They came closer and had discussions over the political matters.
Tilak made great impression on Gandhi.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak was always surrounded his admirers like a king is by surrounded by the courtiers.
Later, Gandhi said that he was so impressed by Tilak that he would have painted a picture of him as king being fawned by the admiring courtiers, had he been a painter.
Plague took away the eldest son of Bal Gangadhar Tilak in January, 1903.
It was a great shock for the parents, especially for the mother. The son meant a lot to her. As Tilak stayed away from home most of the time, it was his eldest son who practically played the role of the ‘Man of the house’ and provided consolation to his mother.
The death of the eldest son was irreparable damage to Satyabhama personally. She broke down and fell ill.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak understood her pain. He could not leave her to her fate at that hour. He stayed home and attended to her like a dutiful husband. Tilak was able to make a mark in the politics largely due to the cooperation, support, forbearance and sacrifice of his wife. So, he loved her and respected her more. And only he knew what she meant to him, his pillar of the strength. He would need her continued support to carry on his political battle.
Bal Gangadhar Tilak nursed her back to life. With her back on her feet, Tilak could now resume his campaign.
