Indian Congress (Socialist) (IC(S)) also known as Congress (Secular) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

between 1978 and 1986. The party was formed through a split in 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 ...

. Initially the party was known as the Indian National Congress (Urs) and was led by D. Devraj Urs. It broke away from the parent party in 1978 following

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

's drubbing in the 1977 General Elections. Urs took with him many legislators from

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

including future Union Ministers and Chief Ministers A.K. Antony,

Sharad Pawar Sharad Govindrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: �əɾəd̪ pəʋaːɾ born 12 December 1940) is an Indian politician. He has served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on four occasions. He has held the posts of Minister of Defence and Minist ...

Dev Kant Baruah Dev Kant Barooah (22 February 1914 – 28 January 1996) was an Indian politician from Assam, who served as the President of the Indian National Congress during the Emergency (1975–77). Early life Baruah was born on 22 February 1914 to Nilka ...

, Priyaranjan Das Munshi,

Sarat Chandra Sinha Sarat Chandra Singha (1 January 1914 – 25 December 2005) was an Indian politician and Chief Minister of Assam. He was a leader of Indian National Congress, Indian National Congress (Socialist) and Nationalist Congress Party. He was known ...

and

K. P. Unnikrishnan K. P. Unnikrishnan (born 20 September 1936) is an Indian former politician, writer, Union Minister and parliamentarian of Vatakara constituency. Life K. P. Unnikrishnan was born on 20 September 1936 in a family from Malabar Coast. His fathe ...

Mohammad Yunus Saleem When

took over the party presidency in October 1981, the name of the party was changed to Indian Congress (Socialist) He became the youngest chief minister of Maharashtra by toppling the

Vasantdada Patil Vasantrao Banduji "Vasantdada" Patil (13 November 1917 – 1 March 1989) was an Indian politician from Sangli, Maharashtra. He was known as the first modern Maratha strongman and first mass leader in Maharashtrian politics. Patil served as C ...

-led Congress government in 1978. He led a group of 40 MLAs to split from the parent party and formed the government with

Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...

's support. In 1980, after

swept the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

polls, Pawar's state government was dismissed. In the

elections in 1980, his party lost. Again in 1985, Pawar's party the Indian National Congress (Socialist) won only 54 seats and he became the

Leader of Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

. With the split and the decline of the

nationally, Pawar soon realised that he can't get back to power in Maharashtra on his own. Pawar merged his party back into the Congress in 1986. One section led by Sarat Chandra Sinha broke away from IC(S) in 1984 and formed a separate party known as Indian Congress (Socialist) - Sarat Chandra Sinha. This faction merged with Sharad Pawar's

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine national parties in India. The party generally supports Indian nationalism and Gandhian secularism. It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and is also a significant party in ...

in 1999. However, in Kerala, the residual faction of Indian Congress (Socialist),

Congress (Secular) Congress (Secular), is a political party in Kerala, India, formed after the split in Nationalist Congress Party in Kerala. It is led by Kadannappalli Ramachandran. It had one MLA, Kadannappalli Ramachandran Kadannappalli Ramachandran (bor ...

led by

Kadannappalli Ramachandran Kadannappalli Ramachandran (born 1 July 1944) is an Indian politician and President of Congress (S), and the current MLA of Congress (S) representing the Kannur constituency in Kannur, Kerala. Career Ramachandran was the Minister for Devaswom ...

still exists and is a part of the

Left Democratic Front The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is an alliance of left-wing political parties in the state of Kerala, India. It is the current ruling political alliance of Kerala, since 2016. It is one of the two major political alliances in Kerala, the oth ...

. In 2007, Democratic Indira Congress(Left) led by M. A. John merged with this party.

References

{{Indian political parties 1978 establishments in India 1986 disestablishments in India Defunct socialist parties in India Indian National Congress breakaway groups Political parties disestablished in 1986 Political parties established in 1978 Indian National Congress (Socialist)

See also

References