The Swatantra Party was an Indian
classical liberal
Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econom ...
political party, that existed from 1959 to 1974. It was founded by
C. Rajagopalachari in reaction to what he felt was the
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India du ...
-dominated
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 E ...
's increasingly
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 ...
and
statist outlook.
[
]
It had a number of distinguished leaders, most of them old Congressmen, for example,
C. Rajagopalachari,
Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu,
Minoo Masani
Minocher Rustom "Minoo" Masani (20 November 1905 – 27 May 1998) was an Indian politician, a leading figure of the erstwhile Swatantra Party. He was a three-time Member of Parliament, representing Gujarat's Rajkot constituency in the second, ...
,
N.G. Ranga
Gogineni Ranga Nayukulu (7 November 1900 – 9 June 1995), also known as N. G. Ranga, was an Indian freedom fighter, classical liberal, parliamentarian and farmers' leader. He was the founding president of the Swatantra Party, and an expone ...
,
Darshan Singh Pheruman,
Udham Singh Nagoke and
K.M. Munshi. The provocation for the formation of the party was the left turn which the Congress took at Avadi and the Nagpur Resolutions. Swatantra stood for a
market-based economy with the "
Licence Raj
The Licence Raj or Permit Raj (''rāj'', meaning "rule" in Hindi) was the system of licences, regulations, and accompanying red tape, that hindered the set up and running of businesses in India between 1947 and 1990. Up to 80 government agenci ...
" dismantled, although it opposed ''
laissez faire'' policies. Considered to be on the economic right of the Indian political spectrum, Swatantra was not a religion-based party, unlike the
Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Jana Sangh
The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) ( ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the po ...
. In 1960, Rajagopalachari and his colleagues drafted a 21-point manifesto detailing why Swatantra had to be formed, even though they were hitherto Congressmen and associates of Nehru during the
struggle for independence. The Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was highly critical of Swatantra, dubbing the party as belonging to "the middle ages of lords, castles and
zamindar
A zamindar (Hindustani language, Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian language, Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous Raja, ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughal Em ...
s".
Swatantra Party of India
File:Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari.jpg, C. Rajagopalachari founded the Swatantra Party. Previously, he was the last Governor-General of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 1 ...
and one of the first recipients of India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna
The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest orde ...
.
File:NG Ranga 2001 stamp of India.jpg, N.G. Ranga
Gogineni Ranga Nayukulu (7 November 1900 – 9 June 1995), also known as N. G. Ranga, was an Indian freedom fighter, classical liberal, parliamentarian and farmers' leader. He was the founding president of the Swatantra Party, and an expone ...
was the founder member of the Swatantra Party and was its President for several years.
File:Maharani-gayatri-devi.jpg, Gayatri Devi
Gayatri Devi (born as Princess Gayatri Devi of Cooch Behar; 23 May 1919 − 29 July 2009) was the third Maharani consort of Jaipur from 1940 to 1949 through her marriage to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II. Following her husband's signature for th ...
, the Maharani of Jaipur
Jaipur (; Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Jaipur is also known a ...
and princess of Cooch Behar
Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in ...
, was a successful politician in the Swatantra Party.
File:bezawada ramachandra reddy.jpg, Bezawada Ramachandra Reddy
Bezawada Ramachandra Reddy CBE (24 November 1894 – 3 March 1973) was an Indian politician of the Justice Party and one of the founders of the Swatantra Party. He served as the President of the Madras Legislative Council from 1930 to 1937. Ra ...
was the founder member of the Swatantra Party.
Electoral history
In the
1962 general election, the first after its formation, Swatantra received 7.89 percent of the total votes and won 18 seats in the
third Lok Sabha
List of Members of the 3rd Lok Sabha, (2 April 1962 – 3 March 1967) elected February–March 1962. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. The election was held for 494 seats out of which Indian na ...
(1962–67). It emerged as the main opposition to the dominant Congress in four states—Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Orissa. By the
next general election in 1967, Swatantra had become a significant force in some parts of India; it won 8.7 percent of the votes and became the single-largest opposition party in the
fourth Lok Sabha
List of Members of the 4th Lok Sabha (4 March 1967 – 27 December 1970), elected February–March 1967. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India.13 sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected to 4 ...
(1967–71) with 44 seats. In
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
J ...
, Swatantra joined a "Grand Alliance" of parties from across the political spectrum who aimed to defeat Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; ''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 was al ...
. The party secured eight seats, winning 3% of the votes. The next year, in 1972, its founder Rajagopalachari died, and Swatantra declined rapidly. By 1974, it had dissolved with many of its members joining the
Charan Singh
Chaudhary Charan Singh (23 December 1902 – 29 May 1987) served as the 5th Prime Minister of India between 28 July 1979 to 14 January 1980. Historians and people alike frequently refer to him as the 'champion of India's peasants.'
Charan S ...
-led
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 Part ...
.
Ideology
Fundamental principles
First and foremost the Swatantra Party committed to social justice and equality of opportunity of all people 'without distinction of religion, caste, occupation, or political affiliation'.
The party felt that progress, welfare, and happiness of the people could be achieved by giving maximum freedom to individuals with the state minimising intervention. The state should replace its intervention with fostering the Indian tradition of helping others in people.
In particular, the party believed that the state should adhere to the
Fundamental Rights
Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution, or have been found under due process of law. The United Nations' Susta ...
guaranteed by the
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...
and, in particular, should compensate individuals if their property had to be acquired for public purposes. It also believed in giving citizens full freedom to educate their children as they wanted.
It recognised the need for increasing food production and sought to do that by giving peasants full land rights and incentives for increasing production in agriculture.
In industry, it sought to reduce state presence only to the minimum necessary to supplement private enterprise and in national services like the
Railways
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
. It sought to do away with controls on trade and commerce. However, it committed against unreasonable profits, prices, and dividends. It believed in placing equal emphasis on the development of capital goods industries, consumer goods industries, and rural and small industries.
In the fields of taxation and state expenditure, it believed in thrift and called that taxation should suffice for carrying on of administration and social and economic activities taken upon by the state but it should not depress capital formation and private investment. The government should also desist from running abnormally large
deficits
The government budget balance, also alternatively referred to as general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the overall difference between government revenues and spending. A positive balance is called a ''g ...
or taking
foreign loans that are beyond the capacity of the country to repay. In particular, it resisted unnecessary expansion of the bureaucracy.
While standing for minimising state intervention in the economy the Swatantra Party committed to securing a fair deal for labour, correlating wages to increased productivity and workers' right to
collectively bargain.
It also gave their members full freedom to question and criticize any point not included in the fundamental principles of that party.
Others
Party's fundamental principles had not covered several issues like foreign policy, national language, state reorganisation and religious and social reform.
The party was generally opposed to Communism and in 1969, urged the Indian government to ban the 3 major Communist parties in India at that time, namely the
CPI,
CPI(M) and the
Naxalites due to their open or tacit support for armed struggles, which the Swatantra party viewed as a major security threat to the nation.
In foreign affairs, it opposed
non-alignment and a close relationship with the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...
and advocated an intimate connection with the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
and
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
.
Decline and legacy
Swatantra failed mainly because there was as yet no space in Indian politics for a centrist party. Also, the rich and middle peasants were not yet fully and irrevocably alienated from Congress, especially as cooperative farming had been put in cold storage and land ceiling laws actually posed little threat to the existing holdings. On the other hand, they were the major beneficiaries of several government policies and measures: reduction of land revenue and extension of services including provision of rural credit, improved transport, irrigation, and electrification. By and large, the business class found that planning, the public sector, and government regulations did not block its growth and, instead, in many respects, helped it to develop. The mixed economy also left enough scope for its expansion. Above all, though steady in pursuing its developmental and reformist agenda, the Nehru government was quite moderate in dealing with and conciliatory towards the propertied classes. Even the princes and landlords had not been wiped out and had been consoled with compensation and other economic concessions. Lastly, the Congress right realised that so long as
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 ...
was alive his position in the country was unassailable; it, therefore, showed no inclination to leave. On the other hand, when Congress split in 1969 and
Congress (O) emerged as a political force, the reason for the existence of Swatantra as a separate party disappeared, for the former was much more potent as a right-wing party.
When
Nagabhairava Jaya Prakash Narayana, the founder-leader of
Lok Satta Party
Lok Satta is a classical liberal political party in India, founded by Nagabhairava Jaya Prakash Narayana, a former I.A.S. officer and renowned activist from Andhra Pradesh. Since 1996, the Lok Satta Movement functioned as a non-governmental ...
, was asked in 2014 whether he saw his party "as a modern-day re-embodiment of the Swatantra Party", he replied "in a large measure, yes. ... The founders of the Swatantra Party were visionaries and had India followed their leadership, we could have been where China is today, economically."
See also
*
Liberalism in India
This article gives an overview of liberalism in India.
History
Soon after Indian independence, Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (informally called Rajaji), began to see the risks to India of letting Nehru's fervor for socialism go unchallenged. R ...
*
Piloo Mody
Piloo Mody (14 November 1926 – 29 January 1983) was an Indian architect and politician and one of the founding members of the Swatantra Party. Elected to the 4th and 5th Lok Sabhas, he served in the Rajya Sabha from 1978 until his death.
...
*
S. V. Raju
*
V. P. Menon
Rao Bahadur Vappala Pangunni Menon, CSI, CIE (30 September 1893 – 31 December 1965) was an Indian civil servant who served as Secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of the States, under Sardar Patel.
By appointment fr ...
*
H. Ajmal Khan
*
Venkatesh Geriti
Venkatesh Geriti is an Indian classical liberal, anti-corruption activist, and social entrepreneur. He is the founder of Swatantrata Center and India's Future Foundation, an educational organization in Hyderabad, and a scholar at Atlas Summit. ...
*
Indian National Congress breakaway parties
Notes
References
Other References
*
Bipan Chandra et al. ''India Since Independence''.
Penguin India
Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...
. 2008
011 digital edition
*
Mariadas Ruthnaswamy
Mariadas Ruthnaswamy CIE, KCSG (1885–1977) was a leading educationalist, statesman and a writer in Madras (now Chennai, Tamil Nadu), India.
He was educated in Secunderabad, Hyderabad and in Cuddalore in the then Madras Presidency he went on ...
. "Swatantra Party and its leaders". ''
Swarajya''. 30 July 1960.
* Mariadas Ruthnaswamy. "Is Swatantra inspiring enough?". ''Swarajya''. 22 October 1960.
* H. R. Pasricha. ''The Swatantra Party – Victory in Defeat''. Rajaji Foundation. 2002.
* Howard L. Erdman. "India's Swatantra Party". ''Public Affairs'', vol. 36, iss. 4, pp. 394–410. Winter 1963–64.
* Howard L. Erdman. ''The Swatantra Party and Indian Conservatism''.
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer.
Cambridge University Pr ...
. 1967
Digitizedby the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...
in 2013.
* Madhavankutty Pillai.
Last Man Standing. ''Open''. 5 April 2014.
*
Rajmohan Gandhi. ''Rajaji: A Life''.
Penguin India
Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...
. 1997.
*
Ramachandra Guha
Ramachandra "Ram" Guha (born 29 April 1958) is an Indian historian, environmentalist, writer and public intellectual whose research interests include social history, social, political history, political, contemporary history, contemporary, Envir ...
. ''
India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy''.
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...
. 2008.
* Rasam Vasanti. ''Swatantra Party: a political biography''. Dattson Publishers, Nagpur. 1997.
* Rasam Vasanti. "Role of Swantantra Party as an Opposition Party (National Level)". ''Readings on Parliamentary Opposition''.
External links
* C. Rajagopalachari
Save freedom Why Swatantra, 1960
*
Minoo Masani
Minocher Rustom "Minoo" Masani (20 November 1905 – 27 May 1998) was an Indian politician, a leading figure of the erstwhile Swatantra Party. He was a three-time Member of Parliament, representing Gujarat's Rajkot constituency in the second, ...
To provide A Democratic Alternative Why Swatantra, 1960
*
K. M. Munshi
Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi (; 30 December 1887 – 8 February 1971), popularly known by his pen name Ghanshyam Vyas, was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educationist from Gujarat state. A lawyer by profession, ...
To Restore Fundamental Rights Why Swatantra, 1960
*
N. G. Ranga
Gogineni Ranga Nayukulu (7 November 1900 – 9 June 1995), also known as N. G. Ranga, was an Indian freedom fighter, classical liberal, parliamentarian and farmers' leader. He was the founding president of the Swatantra Party, and an exponen ...
To Preserve Family Economy Why Swatantra, 1960
*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20051120153855/http://iecolumnists.expressindia.com/full_column.php?content_id=75023 Revive the Swatantra PartyMinoo Masani and the Swatantra Party
{{Authority control
1959 establishments in India
1974 disestablishments in India
Classical liberal parties
Liberal conservative parties
Defunct political parties in India
Political parties established in 1959
Political parties disestablished in 1974
Conservative parties in India