Socialist Party has been the name of several

political parties 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 ideological or pol ...

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 ...

, all of which have their roots in the

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 ...

during the freedom struggle.

Background

Socialism had a late appearance in Indian politics and this was attributed to a preoccupation on the part of political activists with the independence movement. Differences in class, political perspectives, and economic objectives were set aside in favor of securing freedom from the

British colonial rule The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts est ...

. Specifically, socialist doctrines were even seen as a liability due to its theme of class conflict, which could have weakened national forces in their struggle for freedom. Once the socialist movement emerged, the Indian concept turned out to be different due to its rejection of the orthodox

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

dogma or the so-called scientific socialist doctrines that focus on the dictatorship of the

proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...

. The Indian model holds that socialism cannot be achieved through the

State apparatus A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...

. One of its rationales stated that "If the State is looked upon as the sole agent for social reconstruction, we get nothing but a regimented society in which the State is all powerful and popular initiative is extinct and the individual is made a cog in a vast inhuman machine." Indian socialism became aligned with the

Gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environmentalism, ...

principle that right outcomes would only be achieved through the right means. Overall, it has clear links to traditional Indian thought and philosophical traditions.

The former Congress Socialist Party

The original Socialist Party had its roots in the

(CSP), the socialist caucus 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 ...

, which fused in 1948 with the

Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

(BLPI).

Hector Abhayavardhana Hector Abhayavardhana (5 January 1919 – 22 September 2012) was a Sri Lankan Trotskyist theoretician, a long-standing member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and a founder-member of the Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Bur ...

of the BLPI became

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the new party. The Socialist Party was founded not long after India's independence when

Jayprakash 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 ...

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 st ...

, Basawon Singh (Sinha), Acharya Narendra Dev led the CSP out of Congress. At the time, Congress's leader

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

held positions that were widely admired by the rank and file of the CSP.

Socialist Party of India

Despite

Jai 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 ...

's personal popularity, the Socialist Party won only 12 seats at the 1951 Indian general election, and its electoral fortunes did not improve. The SP merged with 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 ...

, which had recently been formed by J.B. Kripalani, to form the Praja Socialist Party. It was led by

Akula Purushotham Akula is the Russian word for shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

Praja Socialist Party

The Praja Socialist Party was an Indian

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 existence from 1952 to 1972. It was founded when the Socialist Party, led by

, Acharya Narendra Deva,

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

and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the

led by J.B. Kripalani (formerly a close associate of

). A section led by Rammanohar Lohia broke from the party in 1955, resuming the name "Samyukta Socialist Party/Socialist Party". In 1972, SSP was reunited with PSP, forming the Socialist Party. In 1974 and 1975, JP led '' satyagrahas'' against the government 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 ...

and called for a 'Total Revolution' in the countryside. In response, Indira declared the two-year

State of Emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

under which her own power was consolidated and JP was jailed. At that time,

George Fernandes George Mathew Fernandes (3 June 1930 – 29 January 2019) was an Indian trade unionist, statesman, and journalist, who served as the 22nd Defence Minister of India from 1998 until 2004. He was a member of Lok Sabha for over 30 years, starting f ...

, chairman of the Socialist Party of India, who had faced prosecution for conspiracy against the government of Prime Minister

, sought to obtain funding from the U.S.

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and the

French government The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who i ...

in order to organize underground sabotage activities. After an initial request to seek funding from the French government was turned down, U.S. diplomatic cables showed that he was "prepared to accept money from the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

". After the Emergency, the Socialist Party joined with a number of other groups to form the

Bharatiya Lok Dal Bharatiya Lok Dal ( English: Indian Peoples' Party) was a political party in India. The BLD or simply BL was formed at the end of 1974 through the fusion of seven parties opposed to the rule of Indira Gandhi, including the Swatantra Party, ...

, which fused in 1977 into

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 ...

as an omnibus opposition to Congress Party rule.

Samyukta Socialist Party

The Samyukta Socialist Party was a

from 1964 to 1972. SSP was formed through a split in the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) in 1964. In 1972, SSP was reunited with PSP, forming the Socialist Party. The General Secretary of the SSP from 1969 to 1971 was

Samajwadi Party

The

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; translation: ''Socialist Party'', founded 4 October 1992) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India, headquartered in New Delhi but mainly based in Uttar Pradesh, with significant presence in other states as w ...

, Hindi translation: Socialist Party, is a political party which draws its lineage from the Janata dal, Janata Party, Lok Dal and eventually Socialist Party as well.

Socialist Party (India), 2011

In 2011, several socialist groups and individuals formed the Socialist Party (India), which intends to carry forward the legacy of the Socialist Party formed in 1948. The party was formed through a resolution passed by Mr. Pannalal Surana at the foundation conference on 28 May 2011, under the chairmanship of Prof. Keshav Rao Jadhav. Party National Conference held at Wardha in Gujarath on 28–30 September 2021 elected Adv Thampan Thomas Ex MP from Kerala as president and Dr.Sandeep Pandey of UP as General Secretary.

References

{{Reflist Socialist parties in India Political parties in India