Various Opposition Parties

Various opposition parties

Socialist Party:

• The roots of the Socialist Party in India can be traced back to the mass movement phase within the Indian National Congress during the pre-independence period. In 1934, a group of young, more radical leaders formed the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) within Congress, seeking a more progressive and egalitarian direction for the party.

• In 1948, the Congress amended its constitution to bar members from holding dual-party memberships, prompting the Socialists to form their own party. This new Socialist Party went through several splits and reunions, leading to the formation of different factions, such as the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party, the Praja Socialist Party, and the Samyukta Socialist Party.

• The socialists were guided by the ideology of democratic socialism, which set them apart from both Congress and the Communists. They criticized Congress for aligning with capitalists and landlords, accusing it of neglecting the needs of workers and peasants.

• However, the socialists faced a challenge in 1955 when Congress adopted the goal of establishing a socialist society. This shift made it harder for the socialists to position themselves as a distinct alternative to Congress. In response, some, led by Rammanohar Lohia, distanced themselves further from Congress, while others, like Asoka Mehta, supported limited cooperation.

• Key figures in the Socialist Party included leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan, Achyut Patwardhan, Asoka Mehta, Acharya Narendra Dev, Rammanohar Lohia, and S.M. Joshi.

• Many contemporary Indian political parties, such as the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), and Janata Dal (Secular), trace their origins back to the Socialist Party.

The Communist Party of India

• In the early 1920s, communist groups emerged in different parts of India, taking inspiration from the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and advocating socialism as the solution to problems affecting the country.

• From 1935, the Communists worked mainly from within the fold of the Indian National Congress. A parting of ways took place in December 1941, when the Communists decided to support the British in their war against Nazi Germany.

• Unlike other non-Congress parties, the CPI had a well- oiled party machinery and dedicated cadre at the time of Independence. However, Independence raised different voices in the party. The basic question that troubled the party was the nature of Indian independence. Was India free or was freedom a sham?

• Soon after Independence, the party thought that the transfer of power in 1947 was not true independence and encouraged violent uprisings in Telangana. The Communists failed to generate popular support for their position and were crushed by the armed forces. This forced them to rethink their position.

• In 1951, the Communist Party abandoned the path of violent revolution and decided to participate in the approaching general elections. In the first general election, CPI won 16 seats and emerged as the largest opposition party. The party’s support was more concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Kerala.

• K. Gopalan, S.A. Dange, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, P.C. Joshi, Ajay Ghosh and P. Sundarraya were among the notable leaders of the CPI.

• The Party went through a major split in 1964 following the ideological rift between the Soviet Union and China. The pro-Soviet faction remained as the CPI, while the opponents formed the CPI (Marxist). Both these parties continue to exist to this day.

Bhartiya Jana Sangh

• The Bharatiya Jana Sangh was formed in 1951 with Shyama Prasad Mukherjee as its founder-President. Its lineage, however, can be traced back to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (R.S.S.) and the Hindu Mahasabha before Independence.

• The Jana Sangh was different from other parties in terms of ideology and programmes. It emphasised the idea of one country, one culture and one nation and believed that the country could become modern, progressive and strong on the basis of Indian culture and traditions.

• The party called for a reunion of India and Pakistan in Akhand Bharat. The party was at the forefront of the agitation to replace English with Hindi as the official language of India and was also opposed to the granting of concessions to religious and cultural minorities.

• The party was a consistent advocate of India developing nuclear weapons, especially after China carried out its atomic tests in 1964.

• In the 1950s, Jana Sangh remained on the margins of electoral politics and was able to secure only 3 Lok Sabha seats in the 1952 elections and 4 seats in the 1957 general elections to Lok Sabha.

• In the early years, its support came mainly from the urban areas in Hindi-speaking states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

• The party’s leaders included Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, and Balraj Madhok.

• The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) traces its roots to the Bharatiya Jana Sangh.

Swatantra Party

• Swatantra Party was formed in August 1959 after the Nagpur resolution of the Congress, which called for land ceilings, the takeover of food grain trade by the state, and the adoption of cooperative farming.

• The party was led by old Congressmen like C. Rajagopalachari, K.M. Munshi, N.G.Ranga and Minoo Masani.

• The party stood out from the others in terms of its position on economic issues. The Swatantra Party wanted the government to be less and less involved in controlling the economy. It believed that prosperity could come only through individual freedom.

• It was critical of the development strategy of state intervention in the economy, centralised planning, nationalisation, and the public sector. It instead favoured the expansion of a free private sector. The Swatantra Party was against land ceilings in agriculture and opposed cooperative farming and state trading.

• It was also opposed to the progressive tax regime and demanded the dismantling of the licensing regime. It was critical of the policy of non-alignment and maintaining friendly relations with the Soviet Union and advocated closer ties with the United States.

• The Swatantra Party gained strength in different parts of the country by way of a merger with numerous regional parties and interests.

• It attracted the landlords and princes who wanted to protect their land and the status that was being threatened by the land reforms legislation.

• The industrialists and business class who were against nationalisation and the licensing policies also supported the party.

• Its narrow social base and the lack of a dedicated cadre of party members did not allow it to build a strong organisational network.

Points To Remember

Challenge of Building Democracy: Many of the countries that gained freedom from colonialism experienced non democratic rule. The challenge thus, was to establish democracy in a newly independent India.

The emergence of electoral politics: One of the most important achievements of India in the years since independence is the adoption of democratic polity and adhering to it despite the odds. However, the challenges of largely poor, illiterate population and Immense geographic, social and economic diversity

Challenges before ECI and the conduction of the first general election:

• The Election Commission of India was set up in January 1950. Sukumar Sen became the first Chief Election Commissioner. India has adopted a universal adult franchise model of democracy where any person with a prescribed condition of age could vote without any form of discrimination.

The Dominance of the Congress System: In the three general elections following independence, the Congress gained an overwhelming majority. What distinguished the dominance of the Congress party in India from all other countries cases was it happened under democratic conditions.

Nature of Congress Dominance:

• Congress was an ideological coalition. It accommodated the revolutionary and pacifist, conservative and radical, extremist and moderate and the right, left and all shades of the centre.

• The Congress had the ‘first off, the blocks’ advantage.

• Congress was seen as an inheritor of the national movement.

• The Emergence of Opposition Parties:

• By keeping the democratic political alternative alive, the opposition parties prevented the resentment within the system from turning into anti-democratic.

• Right from the first elections, the existence of several political parties was crucial for the development of parliamentary democracy in India.