Rashtriya Samajwadi Congress (RSC; ) 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 ...

in the Indian state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

from 1986 to 1989. RSC was founded by

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 ...

leader

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...

who was the former

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

, as a result of the leadership struggle within the Indian National Congress after the demise of

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 ...

. Mukherjee was opposed to

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

being appointed the prime minister of India. He saw himself as the rightful successor to the post due to his seniority within the party and was opposed to the dynastic nature of the transition. The RSC rejoined the INC in 1989 after it was unsuccessful in attracting major political figures to its fold and unable to garner wide support. This may have been due to Mukherjee not being a mass leader and never having contested elections. On his return to the party he was welcomed and again joined the top leadership. Since then he has built up an image of a Nehru–Gandhi family loyalist.Financial Times
2009-05-25.

Notes

Defunct political parties in West Bengal Defunct socialist parties in India Political parties established in 1986 1986 establishments in West Bengal Political parties disestablished in 1989 1989 disestablishments in India Indian National Congress breakaway groups {{India-party-stub Mukherjee with then-United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

See also

Notes