The Major Socialist Parties of India in the 1967 Election

Abstract

The two major Socialist parties of India-the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) and the Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP) -entered the Fourth Indian General Election of 1967 with an understandable lack of confidence. Both parties had been badly battered through more than eleven years of bitter fratricidal warfare, during which both had suffered intermittent fragmentation. The PSP seemed destined for extinction. The more militant SSP was expected to improve its political status, but with no prospect of playing a significant role in the Indian political system. When the final election results were tabulated, however, the overall performance of the two parties was surprisingly good. The PSP not only survived but gained significantly as compared with its preelection status, winning 13 seats in the lower house of the Indian Parliament and polling 4.5 million votes (3% of the total popular vote). In state assembly elections, it won 106 seats and 4.7 million votes (3.35% of the total). The SSP made spectacular gains, increasing its parliamentary representation from 6 to 23 seats and polling almost 5% of the national vote (7.2 million). The SSP did even better at the state assembly level, increasing its representation from 64 to 180, while polling in excess of 5% of the total assembly vote cast (7.4 million).' Also, after the elections both the PSP and the SSP participated in the formation of several non-Congress coalition governments at the state level. The SSP was a principal component of the United Front Government in