<P> The Congress leadership was cut off from the rest of the world for over three years . Gandhi's wife Kasturbai Gandhi and his personal secretary Mahadev Desai died in months and Gandhi's health was failing, despite this Gandhi went on a 21 - day fast and maintained his resolve to continuous resistance . Although the British released Gandhi on account of his health in 1944, Gandhi kept up the resistance, demanding the release of the Congress leadership . </P> <P> By early 1944, India was mostly peaceful again, while the Congress leadership was still incarcerated . A sense that the movement had failed depressed many nationalists, while Jinnah and the Muslim League, as well as Congress opponents like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Hindu Mahasabha sought to gain political mileage, criticizing Gandhi and the Congress Party . </P>

Who was the viceroy of india when the quit india movement started in 1942