Asoka Mehta (24 October 1911, Bhavnagar – 10 December 1984, New Delhi) was an Indian freedom fighter and

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

politician. He helped organize the socialist wing

Congress Socialist Party The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress. It was founded in 1934 by Congress members who rejected what they saw as the anti-rational mysticism of Gandhi as well as the sectarian attitude of th ...

of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

, along with

Rambriksh Benipuri Ramavriksha Benipuri (, 23 December 1899 – 9 September 1968) was a freedom fighter, Socialist Leader editor and Hindi writer. He was born in a small village named Benipur in Muzaffarpur district in a Bhumihar Brahmin family in the Indian stat ...

Jaya Prakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

, and was heavily involved in the politics and government of the city of

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Life

Early life

Ashok Mehta was born in

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, a States of India, state of India. It was founded in 1723 by Gohil Koli, Bhavsinhji Takhtasinhji Gohil (1703–1764). It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, whi ...

on 24 October 1911 to

Ranjitram Mehta Ranjitram Vavabhai Mehta (25 October 1881 – 4 June 1917) was a Gujarati language writer from British India. Biography Mehta was born on 25 October 1881 in Surat to Vavabhai. He completed his schooling in Ahmedabad where his father was the ...

, a Gujarati writer. He completed his primary education from

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...

and

Sholapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad, with a branch lin ...

. He graduated from

Bombay University The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...

in 1931 where he was introduced to

Swadeshi Movement The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public in ...

Career

He was imprisoned in 1932 for participating in Civil Disobedience Movement. Mehta was active participant during the

Quit India movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

in 1942 and was arrested by the British. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment five times. After India's independence, he helped organize

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

in Bombay and was one of the founders of

INTUC Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) is a national trade union in India. It was founded on 3 May 1947 and is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, ...

. He also served as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Bombay city from 1946 to 1947. Mehta retired from active politics in the early 1950s, and wrote several books on his experiences, on India's freedom struggle, and on the importance of socialist reforms. In 1950, he was elected as the president of the eighth session of Socialist Party. Ashoka Mehta was a founder member of Socialist Party and when, in September 1952, the

Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party The Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (''Farmer Worker People's Party'') was a political party of India. Established in 1951, it merged with the Socialist Party to form the Praja Socialist Party in the following year. History In June, 1951 Indian ...

and the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

merged to form the

Praja Socialist Party The Praja Socialist Party, abbreviated as PSP, was an Indian political party. It was founded when the Socialist Party, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Rambriksh Benipuri, Acharya Narendra Deva and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the Kisan Mazdoo ...

(PSP) in which the major cementing role was played by

Ram Manohar Lohia Ram Manohar Lohia ; (23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an activist in the Indian independence movement and a socialist political leader. During the last phase of British rule in India, he worked with the Congress Radio which was broadcast s ...

and Mehta, Asoka Mehta was appointed the General Secretary of the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) and later served as the President of the party from the year 1959 to 1963. He became new party's general secretary. He was Praja Socialist Party's president during 1959-1963. He was a founding member of the first Governing Body of National Council of Applied Economic Research in New Delhi, India’s first independent economic policy institute, established in 1956. In 1963, he served as deputy chairman of the Planning Commission. He also served as a Union Minister after 1964. He agreed to be appointed the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. He joined

in 1964, after his expulsion from Praja Socialist Party. After Congress split in 1969 and the faction

Congress (I) Indian National Congress (Requisitionists) was created in 1969; it was created and led by Indira Gandhi. Initially this party was known as Congress (R), but it soon came to be generally known as the New Congress or Syndicate. The letter 'R' st ...

was led by Indira Gandhi, Mehta was part of the

Congress (O) The Indian National Congress (Organisation) also known as Congress (O) or Syndicate/Old Congress was a political party in India formed when the Congress party split following the expulsion of Indira Gandhi. On 12 November 1969, the Prime Ministe ...

faction. He was a member of 1st and 2nd Lok Sabha during 1954-1957 and 1957-1962. He was elected third time for 4th Lok Sabha from

Bhandara Bhandara () is a city and municipal council which serves the administrative headquarters of eponymous administrative Bhandara Taluka and Bhandara district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is connected with NH-53 and NH-247. Overview ...

. He was a member of Rajya Sabha from 3 April 1966 to 26 February 1967. He was arrested during the Emergency on 26 June 1975 and detained in Rohtak Jail, Haryana.Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: A World Survey
Volume 3, 1987 In 1977 he was the Chairman of

Ashok Mehta Committee In December 1977, the Janata Government appointed a committee on Panchayati Raj institutions under the chairmanship of Ashoka Mehta. The committee submitted its report in August 1978 and made 132 recommendations to revive and strengthen the dec ...

under the

Janata government The premiership of Morarji Desai extended from 24 March 1977 to 15 July 1979. In the 1977 Indian general election Morarji Desai led the Janata Party to victory against the Congress party. Upon taking office, Morarji Desai became the first India ...

. He died in New Delhi on 10 December 1984.

Major works

He is author of following noted books: * ''Economic Planning in India'' * ''Who Owns India?'' (1950) * ''Democratic Socialism'' (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan) * ''Studies in Socialism'' (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan) * ''Reflections on Socialist Era'' (C. Chand and Co.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Asoka 1911 births 1984 deaths Indian independence activists from Gujarat Indian socialists Mayors of Mumbai Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra India MPs 1952–1957 India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1967–1970 People from Bhavnagar People from Bhandara Praja Socialist Party politicians Indians imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Prisoners and detainees of British India Gujarati people English-language writers from India Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra Janata Party politicians