The British, reeling from the economic paralysis of the "Week of Silence" and politically outmaneuvered by the ascendant Swarajya Party, found themselves at an unprecedented juncture. For the first time, India was negotiating not from a position of moral appeal, but from one of undeniable economic and organizational strength.
The negotiations began in late 1922, in the grand halls of Viceroy's House in Delhi. Leading the Indian delegation was Subhas Chandra Bose, sharp, eloquent, and radiating a quiet confidence. Behind him, almost invisibly, was Adav, present as a "senior economic advisor" to the Swarajya Party, his true role as the architect of the entire process known only to Bose and a few trusted lieutenants. The Codex hummed in Adav's mind, feeding him real-time analysis of the British negotiators' body language, their historical precedents, and predicting their counter-arguments with chilling accuracy.
The British delegation, led by a weary Viceroy and hardened colonial administrators, expected demands for gradual political reform. Instead, Bose, under Adav's precise instruction, laid out a bold, uncompromising blueprint for "Dominion Status within five years" – a full decade ahead of what was historically even considered. But this wasn't merely about political autonomy; it was about economic control.
Adav had instructed Bose to demand immediate Indian control over key economic sectors: tariffs, currency policy, industrial licensing, and the national railways. He also demanded preferential treatment for Indian-owned enterprises in future government contracts and a phased transfer of administrative control of key government departments. The British negotiators balked, outraged by the audacity of these demands. They saw it as a complete surrender of their economic empire. But Adav had calculated their pain threshold. He knew Britain, battered by WWI and facing a global economic downturn, could not afford another "Week of Silence" or a sustained period of non-cooperation that would cripple its most valuable colony. The negotiations were tense, protracted, but the Swarajya Party's demands were relentlessly logical, backed by the undeniable power of Bharat Corporation.