The ferment over Bengal was not confined to Bengal. The INC asked for the division to be annulled. Lala Lajpat Rai, who had participated in the Congress’s 1900 session in Lahore and helped create Bradlaugh Hall as the INC’s space in Lahore, entered the fray, as did the INC leader from Poona, Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1856-1920). With the orator Bipin Chandra Pal (1858-1932) sharing the stir’s leadership in Bengal, newspapers spoke of a pan-Indian ‘Lal-Bal-Pal’ trio.
