The Indian National Congress, on 19 December 1929, passed the historic ‘Purna Swaraj’ – (total independence) resolution – at its Lahore session. A public declaration was made on 26 January 1930 – a day which the Congress Party urged Indians to celebrate as ‘Independence Day’. The declaration was passed due to the breakdown of negotiations between leaders of the freedom movement and the British over the question of dominion status for India. In 1929, Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy of India, made a vaguely announced – referred to as the Irwin Declaration - that India would be granted dominion status in the future. Indian leaders welcomed this as they had been making the demand for dominion status for a long time. They now wanted all further negotiations with the British to focus on the formalization of dominion status for India. The Irwin Declaration triggered a backlash in England: politicians and the general public were not in favour of India obtaining dominion status. Under pressure, Lord Irwin, at a meeting with Jinnah, Nehru, Gandhi and Sapru, told Indian leaders that he could not promise dominion status anytime soon. The Indian National Congress irked and now changed its stance: it gave up demands for dominion status and instead, at its Lahore Session in 1929, passed the ‘Purna Swaraj’ resolution that called for complete independence. The resolution marked the beginning of a large-scale political movement against colonial rule.