The Birth of India's Samyukta Socialist Party

Abstract

E VEN BEFORE PRIME MINISTER NEHRU S DEATH on May 27, i964, the splintered socialist opposition in India had been attempting to find common ground upon which to develop a coherent socialist party program and an effective opposition to the Government. Nehru's declining psychological and political leadership, the Congress party's internal strife over the direction of program development, and its failure to implement a comprehensive socialist program-all created a political vacuum which opposition socialist elements sought to fill. The failure of both the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) and the Socialist Party (SP) to achieve this goal and the increasing strength of the rightist Jana Sangh and Swatantra Party pointed to the need to reassess the character and future role of the split socialist groups. The search for socialist unity began shortly after the I948 schism of the Socialists led by Ashoka Mehta and Ramanohar Lohia from the Congress party leadership. The result was the formation of the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (KMPP) in i95i. The PSP was born after the disillusioning KMPP showing in the i952 general elections.' Lohia's break from the PSP, which occurred shortly thereafter centered around three main issues:2 (i) the police firing upon a crowd in Travandore-Cochin under a minority PSP Government in August i954 and his telegraphic direction from the Allahabad jail to the PSP Kerala Ministry which was viewed as indiscipline against the party by its leaders (this led to the crystallization of differences between Lohia-ites and the party's National Executive); (2) PSP opposition in the fight over the irrigation struggle in the important state of Uttar Pradesh (UP); (3) attacks upon Lohia's viewpoints made by his PSP colleagues. There were other disagreements. In the UP widespread attacks were made by Lohia's supporters upon the National Executive. In addition, his followers bitterly objected to a year's suspension of the socialist leader Madhu Limaye by the Bombay PSP leadership after he had charged that Ashoka Mehta, the PSP leader, intended to lead the PSP back into the Congress party.3 Lohia insisted that for these reasons he and his followers were expelled by the PSP while the PSP stated that Lohia left of his own accord.