Formation of Congress Socialist Party

This section marks a decisive turning point in the evolution of the Left in India.
Till now, we have seen the story of Communism — with its international linkages, ups and downs, and its uneasy relationship with the Congress.
Now, a new force arises from within the Congress itself — the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) — a group of idealists who wanted to combine Gandhian nationalism with socialist transformation.

🌹 Setting the Stage — The Socialist Impulse Within the Congress

During the 1920s and 1930s, a growing number of Congressmen — especially young and idealistic leaders — began to feel that political independence alone was not enough.
They believed that true freedom must also mean social and economic equality.

So, while the Congress was fighting for Swaraj, this new section started asking:

“What kind of society will we build after independence?”

They were drawn to socialist and Marxist ideas, yet wanted to remain inside the Congress because the Congress was the main platform of India’s national awakening.

This Left-leaning group included some of the most brilliant minds of the freedom struggle:

• Jawaharlal Nehru
• Subhas Chandra Bose
• Jayaprakash Narayan (JP)
• Acharya Narendra Dev
• Achyut Patwardhan
• Ram Manohar Lohia

These names together form what historians call the “Congress Left” — visionary nationalists who wanted to radicalise the freedom struggle from within.

⚖️ The Political Context — Post-Civil Disobedience (1934)

After the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930–34) was suspended, Congress politics faced a new question:
Should the Congress boycott the legislatures again, or enter them to fight from within?

Gandhiji supported those who chose to enter the legislatures to continue the struggle through legal and constitutional means.
These were called the “Constitutionalists.”

However, socialist-minded Congressmen feared that this strategy would:

• Dilute the revolutionary spirit of the Congress, and
• Turn it into a party of compromise and power-seekers.

Therefore, they felt the need to form an internal socialist bloc within the Congress — not to oppose it, but to preserve its radical, mass-based character.

🧠 How Congress Socialists Differed from Communists

Though both believed in Marxist ideas, there were two key differences between the Congress Socialists and the Communists:

Basis	Congress Socialists	Communists
Loyalty / Allegiance	Loyal to Indian National Congress	Loyal to Communist International (Comintern)
Scope of Vision	Primarily nationalists — socialism through national freedom	Internationalists — world communist revolution

In short,

Congress Socialists were Indian nationalists first, and socialists second, whereas Communists were revolutionaries first, and nationalists as part of a global movement.

Moreover, the Congress Socialists came mostly from the western-educated middle class — people exposed to Marxism, Gandhism, and Western Social Democracy.
So they tried to synthesise these ideas:

• The moral discipline of Gandhi,
• The economic vision of Marx, and
• The political democracy of the West.

This fusion gave their socialism a uniquely Indian and humane character.

🪔 The Birth of the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) – 1934

In 1934, several prominent leftist Congressmen decided to formally organise their efforts.

At a time when many leaders had been released from jail after the Civil Disobedience Movement, Acharya Narendra Dev, Jayaprakash Narayan, Ram Manohar Lohia, and others came together to found the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) within the Indian National Congress itself.

• President: Acharya Narendra Dev
• General Secretary: Jayaprakash Narayan (JP)

Their aim was clear:

“To give a socialist direction to the Congress and make the national movement a movement of the masses.”

⚙️ The CSP was not a separate political party outside the Congress.
It was a group within the Congress — similar to a pressure bloc or ideological faction — that sought to influence Congress policy and leadership.

Later, in 1948, the Congress amended its constitution to ban dual party membership.
That forced the socialists to leave and form a separate Socialist Party, but until then, they worked within the Congress framework.

🧩 Background — Provincial Socialist Groups Before 1934

The formation of the CSP didn’t happen overnight.
It was preceded by the growth of regional socialist groups during the early 1930s, when many young Congressmen were experimenting with socialist ideas.

Let’s look at them chronologically:

Province	Year	Organisation	Key Leaders
Bihar	July 1931	Bihar Socialist Party	Jayaprakash Narayan (Secretary)
Orissa	Feb 1933	Utkal Congress Socialist Karmi Sangh	Nabakrushna Choudhury
Bombay	Dec 1933	First Congress Socialist Group	Yusuf Meherally, Minoo Masani, Achyut Patwardhan, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay
U.P.	May 1934	U.P. Socialist Party	Sampurnanand
Kerala	Early 1930s	Kerala Congress Socialist Party	P. Krishna Pillai, E.M.S. Namboodiripad

These regional groups reflected the same mood across India — an urge to connect economic justice with political freedom.

🏛️ The Patna and Bombay Conferences (1934) — Founding of the All-India CSP

• In May 1934, Jayaprakash Narayan (on behalf of the Bihar Socialist Party) convened the First All-India Congress Socialist Conference at Patna.
  • Presided over by: Acharya Narendra Dev.
  • Theme: Criticism of the new Swarajist section that wanted to enter legislatures and compromise on revolutionary principles.
• The Patna meeting decided to call a socialist conference, which was later held at Bombay (22–23 October 1934).
  There, the All-India Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was formally established.

📘 Around this time, Jayaprakash Narayan published his influential book “Why Socialism?” — a passionate argument explaining why India’s future must rest on socialist foundations.

🔑 Ideological Foundation — Four Core Principles of the CSP

From the very beginning, the Congress Socialists stood united on four fundamental ideas:

1. Primary goal — National Freedom:
   The immediate struggle was for India’s independence.
   Nationalism, they said, was the first necessary step towards socialism.
2. Work within the Congress:
   Since the Congress was the chief vehicle of India’s political awakening, socialists must operate inside it, not outside.
3. Give Congress a Socialist Direction:
   They would strive to make the Congress not just a political body, but a social revolution in motion — committed to the poor, workers, and peasants.
4. Organise Workers and Peasants:
   True socialism could not come from resolutions and committees alone — it had to emerge from mass struggles for economic justice and dignity.

🌾 The Socialist Programme

The CSP put forward a clear socio-economic agenda, which directly challenged the existing structure of feudalism and capitalism:

Policy Goal	Explanation
Abolition of Zamindari	To end landlord exploitation and redistribute land to those who cultivate it.
State Ownership of Land	Land to be owned collectively under the State for equitable distribution.
Nationalisation of Industries and Banks	To free the economy from private monopoly and foreign control.
Redistribution of Land	Fair division of land among peasants to ensure livelihood and dignity.
Fixation of Minimum Wages	To protect the working class and ensure basic economic security.

This was a bold and radical vision — not just about political independence from Britain, but about economic independence for India’s poor.

🧭 The Unique Character of the CSP

The Congress Socialist Party was truly a bridge between Gandhian nationalism and Marxian socialism.

• From Gandhi, it inherited the belief in non-violence, moral reform, and constructive work.
• From Marx, it took the idea of class struggle, economic planning, and social equality.
• From Western Social Democracy, it borrowed the value of parliamentary democracy and civil rights.

Thus, unlike the Communists — who saw revolution as inevitable and violent — the Congress Socialists believed in peaceful, democratic socialism, achieved through mass awakening and reform.

🪔 Significance of CSP Formation (UPSC Perspective)

Aspect	Significance
Ideological	First systematic attempt to link socialism with Indian nationalism.
Organisational	Created a national-level socialist bloc inside the Congress.
Political	Provided leftward orientation to Congress during 1930s.
Social	Brought peasants, youth, and workers into Congress politics.
Intellectual	Introduced socialism in a distinctly Indian, democratic, and Gandhian tone.

🧠 A Conceptual Summary — The Congress Socialist Synthesis

In simple words, the Congress Socialist Party was born out of three realisations:

1. That independence without equality would be hollow,
2. That socialist ideals could not grow outside the national movement, and
3. That Gandhian moralism needed Marxian realism to rebuild India after independence.

Thus, the CSP represented the Indianisation of socialism — making it moral, mass-based, and in tune with the country’s freedom struggle.

Excellent — moving on to the next part of the story what we will learn is the culmination of the long process we’ve been tracing: the journey of the Left from margins to mainstream within the Indian National Congress.
By now, the Congress Socialist Party (CSP) had become the ideological core of the Congress Left, drawing Communists, Marxists, Social Democrats, and Gandhian Socialists into one platform.

🌹The Changing Context: Communists Join the Congress Socialist Party (CSP)

In 1935, the Seventh Congress of the Communist International (Comintern) changed its global line.
The Comintern now encouraged “Popular Front” or “United Front” tactics — meaning Communists should ally with anti-imperialist and nationalist movements instead of isolating themselves.

Impact on India

As a result, Indian Communists — who had been working separately since the late 1920s — joined the Congress Socialist Party in 1935.
This made the CSP a broad Left coalition inside the Congress, combining:

• Socialists (led by JP, Narendra Dev, Lohia, Patwardhan),
• Communists, and
• Even former revolutionaries (like Anushilan Marxists and HSRA members).

🧩 Expansion of the CSP – From Socialists to Revolutionaries

After 1935, the CSP became an umbrella platform for diverse leftist trends:

(a) Communists

In some provinces — notably Kerala and Orissa — the Communists gained majority control inside the CSP.

• In Kerala, the CPI dominated the entire Congress organisation through its stronghold on the CSP.
• This helped the Communists operate legally (since the CPI was banned), and gave them access to mass politics.

(b) Anushilan Marxists and HSRA Members

• Anushilan Samiti was a revolutionary secret society from Bengal; its members later turned to Marxism.
• HSRA (Hindustan Socialist Republican Association) — the organisation of Bhagat Singh and Jogesh Chandra Chatterji — also had members who later joined the CSP.

Hence, the CSP became a melting pot of Marxists, social democrats, and idealist revolutionaries — all united by their commitment to social justice and anti-imperialism.

⚖️ Internal Ideological Currents Within the CSP

Because it absorbed such diverse elements, the Congress Socialist Party was never ideologically uniform.

Three distinct ideological streams existed within it:

Stream	Key Leaders	Characteristics
Marxist Trend	Jayaprakash Narayan, Acharya Narendra Dev	Wanted to apply Marxist class analysis to Indian conditions; believed socialism must be achieved through mass mobilisation and planned economy.
Fabian Socialist Trend	Minoo Masani, Asoka Mehta	Inspired by British Fabianism; believed in gradual reforms, parliamentary democracy, and mixed economy rather than revolution.
Gandhian Socialist Trend	Ram Manohar Lohia, Achyut Patwardhan	Tried to blend Gandhian non-violence and moral idealism with socialist economics; emphasised decentralisation and rural reconstruction.

Thus, the CSP reflected the pluralistic nature of Indian socialism — neither rigidly Marxist nor purely Gandhian, but an Indian synthesis of both.

🧠 The Political Aim: Developing an Alternative Leadership

From the very beginning, all Left groups within the Congress — the Socialists, Communists, and Bose’s followers — worked together with a dual objective:

1. To influence Congress policies towards radicalism, and
2. To challenge the domination of the Gandhian (Right-wing) leadership.

United Left Action (1936–39)

From 1936 onwards, these groups acted in coordination:

• They opposed the Conservative Right-wing within Congress (like Sardar Patel, Rajendra Prasad, and others), whom they accused of being too cautious or compromising.
• By 1939, they even supported Subhas Chandra Bose as the presidential candidate against the Gandhian-backed Pattabhi Sitaramayya.

The 1939 Congress Presidential Election

• Bose’s victory (against Gandhi’s nominee) symbolised the peak of Left influence inside the Congress.
• After the results, Gandhi famously remarked:

“Pattabhi’s defeat is more my defeat than his.”

But soon, the Left realised a critical truth:

Replacing Gandhi as leader might weaken national unity and isolate the Left from the masses.

Hence, the CSP decided not to pursue alternative leadership but to work alongside Gandhi, using his mass appeal to advance their social agenda.

💬 The Gandhi–Left Divide: Nehru’s Unique Position

The question of Gandhi’s leadership became the central dividing line within the Indian Left.

• Subhas Bose, M.N. Roy, and many Socialists/Communists saw Gandhi as an obstacle — a moral reformer who restrained militant struggle.
• Jawaharlal Nehru, however, took a different view.

Nehru’s Stand

Nehru disagreed with Gandhi’s methods (non-violence, compromise, religious idiom) but deeply respected his mass connection.
He understood that Gandhi was pro-poor and pro-peasant in intent, and that no other leader could mobilise India’s millions.

Hence, Nehru acted as a bridge — between the radical socialists and the Gandhian mainstream — keeping the Congress united and progressive at the same time.

🔺 Achievements and Impact of the Congress Socialist Party

Despite its internal diversity, the CSP’s influence on the Indian National Movement was profound and far-reaching.

(a) Entry of Socialists into Congress Leadership

In 1936, Jawaharlal Nehru inducted three leading Congress Socialists into the Congress Working Committee (CWC):

• Acharya Narendra Dev,
• Jayaprakash Narayan, and
• Achyut Patwardhan.

This marked the formal recognition of the Left within the top Congress leadership.

(b) Agrarian Radicalism – The Faizpur Session (1936)

Under Nehru’s presidency, the Faizpur Session of the INC (1936) adopted a comprehensive agrarian programme, which was largely shaped by the Congress Socialists.
It included:

• Reduction of land revenue,
• Abolition of feudal levies and dues,
• Promotion of cooperative farming,
• Living wages for agricultural labourers, and
• Formation of peasant unions.

This was the first time the Congress formally addressed economic justice for rural India.

(c) Peasant Movements – Formation of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS)

The CSP gave strong support to Kisan (peasant) movements across India.

• Leaders like Prof. N.G. Ranga, Indulal Yagnik, and Swami Sahajanand Saraswati played key roles.
• The All India Kisan Congress (later AIKS) held its first session at Lucknow (1936).
• It soon became the largest peasant organisation in India, leading struggles for tenancy rights, rent reduction, and abolition of zamindari.

Thus, the CSP transformed the agrarian question into a national political issue.

(d) Democratic Movements in Princely States

Earlier, the Congress had kept aloof from the Princely States, seeing them as beyond its mandate.
The CSP changed this attitude.

Congress Socialists encouraged and participated in “Prajamandal” (People’s Assembly) movements, demanding:

• Responsible government,
• Civil liberties, and
• End to autocratic princely rule.

This gave the freedom struggle a truly all-India character, extending it beyond British India into princely territories.

(e) Left Influence on Congress Policy & Culture

The rise of the CSP (and broader Left-wing) between 1936–1939 left its imprint on many landmark events:

Year	Event / Development	Leftist Influence
1931	Karachi Resolution on Fundamental Rights & Economic Policy	Laid by Nehru; socialist ideals of equality, labour rights, state control of economy.
1936	Congress Election Manifesto	Reflected socialist priorities — labour welfare, agrarian reform, national planning.
1936	Formation of All India Students’ Federation (AISF)	Linked youth and student movements to socialist causes.
1936	Progressive Writers’ Association	Promoted socialist realism in Indian literature; included writers like Mulk Raj Anand, Sajjad Zaheer, Premchand.
1938	National Planning Committee under Nehru	First blueprint for planned economic development.
1938–39	Nehru and Bose as Congress Presidents	Reflected dominance of Left thought at the national level.

(f) The 1939 Congress Election – Peak and Decline

When Subhas Chandra Bose defeated Pattabhi Sitaramayya (Gandhi’s candidate) in the 1939 Congress presidential election, it seemed that the Left had triumphed.
However, soon ideological and organisational rifts reappeared:

• Bose’s assertive style clashed with Gandhian and Congress traditions.
• Many Socialists and Communists, unwilling to split the Congress, withdrew support.

Eventually, Bose resigned and formed the Forward Bloc — marking the end of Left unity within Congress.

🪔 Significance of the Congress Socialist Party

Dimension	Contribution / Impact
Ideological	Introduced a socialist framework into mainstream nationalism.
Political	Provided alternative ideas and leaders, keeping Congress dynamic.
Economic	Brought peasants, workers, and agrarian reforms into focus.
Cultural	Influenced literature, student politics, and public debate through progressive movements.
Strategic	Helped reconcile socialism with Gandhian non-violence and democratic methods.

In short, the CSP bridged the gap between idealism and organisation, nationalism and socialism, faith and rationality — giving Indian politics a moral and economic depth that endures even today.

✍️ Concluding Insight

The Congress Socialist Party’s story is not merely about a faction within the Congress — it represents India’s first serious attempt to democratise socialism.
Unlike the Communists, they wanted socialism through persuasion, not coercion;
unlike the Right, they wanted freedom with equality, not privilege.

Through the CSP, leaders like JP Narayan, Lohia, and Narendra Dev shaped a vision of India that combined moral integrity, social justice, and economic planning — a vision that continued to influence post-independence India’s policies, from land reform to planning and welfare.