Emergence of Socialist thought within the INC

🌹 Understanding Socialism: The Global Idea

To begin with, we must first understand what socialism means in its essence.

Socialism is an economic and social philosophy that aims to end the exploitation of the majority by a small minority.
In simpler terms — throughout history, a few people (like landlords, industrialists, or capitalists) have controlled wealth, land, and resources, while the majority — peasants and workers — have lived in poverty and misery.

Socialism says: this inequality is not natural, it is man-made — and it must be removed.

Thus, the ultimate goal of socialism is a society based on justice, equality, and collective welfare, where the fruits of labour are shared fairly, and no one lives off the exploitation of others.

By the early 20th century, socialism had already become a powerful international movement, especially in Europe — thanks to thinkers like Karl Marx and the success of the Russian Revolution (1917) later on.

🕰️ Socialism and the Early Indian National Movement

Now, when the Indian National Congress (INC) was formed in 1885, this global wave of socialism had already begun — but interestingly, early Congress leaders did not adopt it.
Why? There were two key reasons.

(a) Fear of Division

The early nationalists — leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji, Surendranath Banerjee, and Gopal Krishna Gokhale — wanted national unity above everything else.

They believed socialism could divide society — it might pit workers against industrialists, peasants against landlords, or poor against rich.
Since many wealthy Indians were funding Congress activities, the leaders did not want to alienate them by raising class-based issues.

Their goal was national independence first; social and economic reforms could come later.

(b) Absence of Mass Politics

Up to the First World War, the Congress was primarily a party of educated elites.
Except for the Swadeshi Movement (1905–08), most political activities were limited to petitions, resolutions, and appeals to the British.

Because the masses — peasants, workers, women, and tribals — were not yet politically mobilized, the Congress didn’t feel the need to develop a socialist programme that directly addressed their issues.

🔥 Why Socialist Ideas Began Appealing to Indians

Even though Congress leaders avoided socialism, the ground reality of British rule made socialist thinking very relevant.

• Peasants were crushed by high rents and taxes, while princes, landlords, and moneylenders were protected by the British.
• Industrial workers faced terrible exploitation by mill owners, often backed by colonial law.

Thus, a few Indian patriots and intellectuals — especially those living abroad — began to be drawn toward socialist and revolutionary ideas.

Prominent figures included:
Madam Cama, Shyamji Krishna Verma, Virendranath Chattopadhyay, Bhupendra Nath Dutta, and others.

They worked from London, Paris, Berlin, and Geneva, publishing journals and organizing revolutionary groups.
However, since they were outside the mainstream INC, their influence on Congress policies remained limited before 1920.

⚙️ A New Phase: After the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–22)

The Non-Cooperation Movement under Mahatma Gandhi changed everything.
For the first time, millions of Indians — peasants, workers, tribals, women — participated in the struggle for freedom.

This awakening of the masses coincided with the global influence of the Russian Revolution (1917), which had shown that the poor and oppressed could overthrow an empire and build a socialist state.

So, after the Non-Cooperation Movement ended, many young Indians — disillusioned by Gandhi’s withdrawal of the movement — started exploring socialist and Marxist ideas.

🌾 Rise of the Left Wing in the Congress

Around 1927, a new leftist trend began to take shape within the Indian National Congress itself.

Its two main leaders were:

• Jawaharlal Nehru
• Subhas Chandra Bose

This Left Wing of the Congress didn’t limit itself to the anti-British struggle.
It also raised the internal issues of:

• Class oppression by landlords and capitalists
• Economic inequality
• The need for social and economic justice after independence

Nehru and Bose travelled across India, giving fiery speeches against imperialism, capitalism, and landlordism, and spread socialist ideas through Youth Leagues, Student Conferences, and Volunteer Movements.

At the same time, revolutionary nationalists like Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad also turned towards socialism, seeing it as the path to build a just and egalitarian India.

Trade unionism and peasant movements gained momentum, supported by communists and Workers’ and Peasants’ Parties (WPPs) across provinces.

✈️ Nehru’s Personal Journey Toward Socialism

A major turning point came when Jawaharlal Nehru visited Europe in 1926–27 with his ailing wife, Kamala Nehru.

During this period, he came into direct contact with:

• European socialist thinkers
• Marxist literature
• The League Against Imperialism, founded at the Brussels Congress (1927), where Nehru represented the INC.

He met delegates from China, Mexico, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and for the first time, saw India’s freedom struggle as part of a global anti-imperialist movement.

In November 1927, he visited the Soviet Union, and was deeply impressed by their experiments in economic planning, education, and social reconstruction.
When he returned to India, Nehru had essentially become a socialist in conviction.

🇮🇳 Impact on Indian Politics: From Dominion to Complete Independence

In 1927, the Congress was debating what “Swaraj” should mean.

• The moderate leaders wanted Dominion Status — self-government within the British Empire, like Canada or Australia.
• But Nehru and Bose argued that accepting Dominion Status meant accepting continued British control and economic exploitation.

Hence, in the Madras Session (1927), Nehru proposed Complete Independence (Purna Swaraj).

Though not accepted immediately, this idea gained strength — and by the Lahore Session of 1929, under Nehru’s presidency, the Congress officially declared Complete Independence as its ultimate goal.

🧠 Spread of Socialist Thought in the 1930s

Through the Youth Leagues, Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Hindustani Seva Dal, and All India Trade Union Congress, leaders like Nehru and Bose inspired:

• Students
• Workers
• Young intellectuals

They popularised the idea that political freedom must go hand in hand with economic freedom — otherwise independence would be meaningless for the poor.

Nehru, in his 1936 Presidential Address at the Lucknow Congress, famously declared:

“I am convinced that the only key to the solution of the world’s problems and of India’s problems lies in socialism. I see no way of ending poverty, unemployment, and degradation except through socialism.”

He urged the Congress to formally adopt socialism as its goal and to ally with peasants and workers, not just with elites.

⚖️ The Broader Significance

The Left Wing of the Congress, under Nehru and Bose, thus expanded the meaning of India’s freedom struggle.
It was no longer just about ending British rule — it was also about ending internal exploitation:

• The oppression of peasants by landlords
• The suffering of workers under industrialists
• The social inequalities rooted in class and privilege

This gave India’s national movement a new ideological depth, connecting it to global movements of liberation and social justice.

🪔 Conclusion

So, to summarise:

Phase	Character of National Movement	Relation with Socialism
1885–1919	Moderate, constitutional, elite-based	Avoided socialism; fear of division
1920–22	Mass awakening under Gandhi	Created conditions for socialist thinking
1923–1936	Rise of Left Wing (Nehru, Bose)	Socialism enters mainstream Congress politics
Post-1936	Congress begins to speak of economic justice	Socialism becomes an accepted national ideal

Thus, socialism in India was not just an imported ideology — it evolved as a moral and political response to both British exploitation and indigenous inequality.
Leaders like Nehru and Bose helped ensure that India’s independence would be envisioned not merely as political freedom, but as a step toward social and economic liberation for all.