The Surat Split: Causes and Consequences
At the heart of the split was the ideological difference between the moderates and extremist within the congress. The partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon and the Swadeshi Movement that followed further intensified the divide between the two groups. Moderates wanted limited protest but extremist wanted an aggressive mass movement. This further got aggravated with the issue like conflict over leadership and the definition of Swaraj. Finally the disagreement over the choice of president in Surat led to physical clash and split. The immediate consequence of the split was the weaking of the congress as a party and a united political force. Within the party it's ability to give an effective challenge to the British rule was significantly weaken. The split led to discontent among the youth at some section of the population within the congress was discontented which led to the rise of revolutionary groups in Bengal, Maharashtra, Punjab and other parts of India which sought to achieve independence through arms struggle and acts of violence against British officials.