Why were the dialogues at the Round Table Conference inconclusive?

(i) The First Round Table Conference was held in November 1930. It did not yield any concrete result as no important Indian leader participated in it. So Mahatma Gandhi was released in January, 1931 and the Round Table Conference was held in February, 1931.

It was attended by Mahatma Gandhi. So it culminated in the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. Under this Pact, Mahatma Gandhi agreed to call off his Civil Disobedience Movement. The British agreed to release all the prisoners. They also agreed to allow the manufacture of salt along the sea-coast. Many leaders criticised this pact as it did not say anything about the complete independence of India.

(ii) The Second Round Table Conference was held in the later part of 1931 at London. Gandhiji attended it on behalf of the Congress. However his claim that Congress represented the whole of India was unacceptable to the Muslim League which claimed to represent the cause of all Muslims. The Princes also did not agree with Gandhi as they believed that the Congress had no stake in their territories. Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, a lawyer and thinker, also did not agree with Gandhiji. He states that congress did not represent the people belonging to lowest castes. So this conference remained inconclusive.

Unsuccessfulness or inconclusiveness of the Round Table Conferences:

The Conferences in London were inconclusive, so Gandhiji returned to India and resumed civil disobedience. The new Viceroy, Lord Willingdon, was deeply unsympathetic to the Indian leaders. Due to unfairly attitude of the British Government, stubbornness of Muslim League and wrong attitude of princely states, rulers as well as of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Gandhiji could not success in his mission and he reached Bombay with empty hands.