NCERT Class 12 Political Science Part 2 PDF

CONTENTS Foreword --- iii Letter to the Readers --- v Chapter 1 Challenges of Nation Building 2 Chapter 2 Era of One party Dominance 26 Chapter 3 Politics of Planned Development 46 Chapter 4 India’s External Relatio...

CONTENTS Foreword --- iii Letter to the Readers --- v Chapter 1 Challenges of Nation Building 2 Chapter 2 Era of One party Dominance 26 Chapter 3 Politics of Planned Development 46 Chapter 4 India’s External Relations 64 Chapter 5 Challenges to and Restoration of the Congress System 82 Chapter 6 The Crisis of Democratic Order 102 Chapter 7 Rise of Popular Movements 128 Chapter 8 Regional Aspirations 148 Chapter 9 Recent Developments in Indian Politics 172 Credit: Sunil Janah In this chapter… The first few years in the life of independent India were full of challenges. Some of the most pressing ones concerned national unity and territorial integrity of India. We begin the story of politics in India since Independence by looking at how three of these challenges of nation- building were successfully negotiated in the first decade after 1947. Hindus and Muslims in Freedom came with Partition, which resulted in large scale violence Kolkata in 1947 marked and displacement and challenged the very idea of a secular India. the end of communal violence by jointly flying The integration of the princely states into the Indian union needed the flags of India and urgent resolution. Pakistan from trucks patrolling the city. The internal boundaries of the country needed to be drawn afresh to This rare photograph meet the aspirations of the people who spoke different languages. captured the joy of freedom and the tragedy In the next two chapters we shall turn to other kinds of challenges faced of partition in India and by the country in this early phase. in Pakistan.  chapter challenges of nation building 1 Challenges for the new nation At the hour of midnight on 14-15 August 1947, India attained independence. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of free India, addressed a special session of the Constituent Assembly that night. This was the famous ‘tryst with destiny’ speech that you are familiar with. This was the moment Indians had been waiting for. You have read in your history textbooks that there were many voices in our national movement. But there were two goals almost everyone agreed upon: one, that after Independence, we shall run our country through democratic government; and two, that the government will be run for the good of all, particularly the poor and the socially disadvantaged groups. Now that the country was independent, the time had come to realise the promise of freedom. This was not going to be easy. India was born in very difficult circumstances. Perhaps no other country by then was born in a situation more difficult than that of India in 1947. Freedom came with the partition of the country. The year 1947 was a year of unprecedented violence and trauma of displacement. It was in this situation that independent India started on its journey to achieve several objectives. Yet the turmoil that accompanied independence did not make our leaders lose sight of the multiple challenges that faced the new nation. Credit: PIB Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru speaking from the Red Fort, 15 August 1947  4 Politics in India since Independence Hindustan Times, 19 July 1947 “ Three Challenges Broadly, independent India faced three kinds of challenges. The first and the immediate challenge was to shape a nation that was united, Tomorrow we shall be “ free from the slavery of the British domination. But at midnight India will be partitioned. Tomorrow will thus be a day of rejoicing as well as of mourning. yet accommodative of the diversity in our society. India was a land of continental size and diversity. Its people spoke different languages and followed different cultures and religions. At that time it was widely believed that a country full of such kinds of diversity could not remain together for long. The partition of the country appeared to prove everyone’s worst fears. There were serious questions about the future of India: Would India survive as a unified country? Would it do so by emphasising national unity at the cost of every other objective? Would it mean rejecting all regional and sub-national identities? And there was an urgent question: How was integration of the territory of India to be achieved? Mahatma Gandhi 14 August 1947, The second challenge was to establish democracy. You have Kolkata. already studied the Indian Constitution. You know that the Constitution granted fundamental rights and extended the right to vote to every citizen. India adopted representative democracy based on the parliamentary form of government. These features ensure that the political competition would take place in a democratic framework. Challenges of Nation Building 5 A democratic constitution is necessary but not sufficient for establishing a democracy. The challenge was to develop democratic practices in accordance with the Constitution. The third challenge was to ensure the development and well-being of the entire society and not only of some sections. Here again the Constitution clearly laid down the principle of equality and special protection to socially disadvantaged groups and religious and cultural communities. The Constitution also set out in the Directive Principles of State Policy the welfare goals that democratic politics must achieve. The real challenge now was to evolve effective policies for economic development and eradication of poverty. How did independent India respond to these challenges? To what I always wanted a time extent did India succeed in achieving the various objectives set out machine, so that I can by the Constitution? This entire book is an attempt to respond to go back and participate these questions. The book tells the story of politics in India since in the celebrations of Independence so as to equip you to develop your own answers to 15 August 1947. But big questions like these. In the first three chapters we look at how this looks different from what I thought. the three challenges mentioned above were faced in the early years after Independence. In this chapter, we focus on the first challenge of nation- building that occupied centre-stage in the years immediately after Independence. We begin by looking at the events that formed the context of Independence. This can help us understand why the issue of national unity and security became a primary challenge at the time of Independence. We shall then see how India chose to shape itself into a nation, united by a shared history and common destiny. This unity had to reflect the aspirations of people across the different regions and deal with the disparities that existed among regions and different sections of people. In the next two chapters we shall turn to the challenge of establishing a democracy and achieving economic development with equality and justice. These three stamps were issued in 1950 to mark the first Republic Day on 26 January 1950. What do the images on these stamps tell you about the challenges to the new republic? If you were asked to design these stamps in 1950, which images would you have chosen?  6 P Dawn, Karachi, 14 August 1947 The Dawn of Freedom Faiz Ahmed Faiz This scarred, marred brightness, this bitten-by-night dawn - The one that was awaited, surely, this is not that dawn. This is not the dawn yearning for which Faiz Ahmed Faiz (1911-1984) Born Had we set out, friends, hoping to find in Sialkot; stayed in Pakistan after sometime, somewhere Partition. A leftist in his political The final destination of stars in the wilderness of the sky. leanings, he opposed the Pakistani Somewhere, at least, must be a shore for the languid regime and was imprisoned. Collections waves of the night, of his poetry include Naksh-e-Fariyadi, Somewhere at least must anchor the sad Dast-e-Saba and Zindan-Nama. boat of the heart … Regarded as one of the greatest poets Translation of an extract from Urdu poem Subh-e-azadi of South Asia in the twentieth century. We should begin to work in that spirit and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community – because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vaishnavas, Khatris, also Bengalees, Madrasis, and so on – will vanish. … You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Presidential Address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan at Karachi, 11 August 1947.  7 The Times of India, Bombay, 15 August 1947 Today I call Waris Shah Amrita Pritam Today, I call Waris Shah, “Speak from your grave” And turn, today, the book of love’s next affectionate page Once, a daughter of Punjab cried and you wrote a wailing saga Today, a million daughters, cry to you, Waris Shah Rise! O’ narrator of the grieving; rise! look at your Punjab Today, fields are lined with corpses, and blood fills the Chenab Amrita Pritam (1919–2005): Someone has mixed poison in the five rivers’ flow A prominent Punjabi poet and Their deadly water is, now, irrigating our lands galore fiction writer. Recipient of Sahitya This fertile land is sprouting, venom from every pore Akademi Award, Padma Shree and The sky is turning red from endless cries of gore Jnanapeeth Award. After Partition The toxic forest wind, screams from inside its wake she made Delhi her second home. Turning each flute’s bamboo-shoot, into a deadly snake … She was active in writing and editing ‘Nagmani’ a Punjabi monthly Translation of an extract from a Punjabi poem “Aaj Akhan Waris Shah Nun” magazine till her last. We have a Muslim minority who are so large in numbers that they cannot, even if they want, go anywhere else. That is a basic fact about which there can be no argument. Whatever the provocation from Pakistan and whatever the indignities and horrors inflicted on non-Muslims there, we have got to deal with this minority in a civilised manner. We must give them security and the rights of citizens in a democratic State. If we fail to do so, we shall have a festering sore which will eventually poison the whole body politic and probably destroy it. Jawaharlal Nehru, Letter to Chief Ministers, 15 October 1947. 8 Politics in India since Independence Partition: displacement and rehabilitation On 14-15 August 1947, not one but two nation-states came into H[LVWHQFH ă ,QGLD DQG 3DNLVWDQ 7KLV ZDV D UHVXOW RI µSDUWLWLRQ¶ the division of British India into India and Pakistan. The drawing of the border demarcating the territory of each country marked the culmination of political developments that you have read about in the history textbooks. According to the ‘two-nation theory’ advanced by the Muslim League, India consisted of not one but two ‘people’, Hindus and Muslims. That is why it demanded Pakistan, a separate country for the Muslims. The Congress opposed this theory and the demand for Pakistan. But several political developments in 1940s, the political competition between the Congress and the Muslim League and the British role led to the decision for the creation of Pakistan. Process of Partition Thus it was decided that what was till then known as ‘India’ would be divided into two countries, ‘India’ and ‘Pakistan’. Such a division was not only very painful, but also very difficult to decide and to implement. It was decided to follow the principle of religious majorities. This basically means that areas where the Muslims were in majority would make up the territory of Pakistan. The rest was to stay with India. The idea might appear simple, but it presented all kinds of difficulties. First of all, there was no single belt of Muslim majority areas in British India. There were two areas of concentration, one in the west and one in the east. There was no way these two parts could be joined. So it was decided that the new country, Pakistan, will comprise two territories, West and East Pakistan separated by a long expanse of Indian territory. Secondly, not all Muslim majority areas wanted to be in Pakistan. Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, the undisputed leader of the North Western Frontier Province and known as ‘Frontier Gandhi’, was staunchly opposed to the two-nation theory. Eventually, his voice was simply ignored and the NWFP was made to merge with Pakistan. The third problem was that two of the Muslim majority provinces of British India, Punjab and Bengal, had very large areas where the non-Muslims were in majority. Eventually it was decided that these two provinces would be bifurcated according to the religious majority Oh, now I at the district or even lower level. This decision could not be made understand! What was ‘East’ Bengal by the midnight of 14-15 August. It meant that a large number of has now become people did not know on the day of Independence whether they were in Bangladesh. That is India or in Pakistan. The Partition of these two provinces caused the why our Bengal is deepest trauma of Partition. called ‘West’ Bengal! This was related to the fourth and the most intractable of all the problems of partition. This was the problem of ‘minorities’ on both Challenges of Nation Building 9 sides of the border. Lakhs of Hindus and Sikhs in the areas that were now in Pakistan and an equally large number of Muslims on the Indian side of Punjab and Bengal (and to some extent Delhi and surrounding areas) found themselves trapped. They were to discover that they were undesirable aliens in their own home, in the land where they and their ancestors had lived for centuries. As soon as it became clear that the country was going to be partitioned, the minorities on both sides became easy targets of attack. No one had quite anticipated the scale of this problem. No one had any plans for handling this. Initially, the people and political leaders kept hoping that this violence was temporary and would be controlled soon. But very soon the violence went out of control. The minorities on both sides of the border were left with no option except to leave their homes, often at a few hours’ notice. Consequences of Partition The year 1947 was the year of one of the largest, most abrupt, unplanned and tragic transfer of population that human history has known. There were killings and atrocities on both sides of the border. In the name of religion people of one community ruthlessly killed and maimed people of the other community. Cities like Lahore, Credit: DPA. A train full of ‘refugees’ in 1947.  10 Politics in India since Independence Amritsar and Kolkata became divided into Hospitality Delayed ‘communal zones’. Muslims would avoid Saadat Hasan Manto going into an area where mainly Hindus or Sikhs lived; similarly the Hindus and Rioters brought the running train to a halt. Sikhs stayed away from areas of Muslim People belonging to the other community predominance. were pulled out and slaughtered with swords and bullets. Forced to abandon their homes and move across borders, people went through The remaining passengers were treated to immense sufferings. Minorities on both halwa, fruits and milk. sides of the border fled their home and The chief organiser said, ‘Brothers and often secured temporary shelter in ‘refugee sisters, news of this train’s arrival was camps’. They often found unhelpful local delayed. That is why we have not been administration and police in what was till able to entertain you lavishly – the way we recently their own country. They travelled wanted to.’ to the other side of the new border by all sorts of means, often by foot. Even during Source: English translation of Urdu short story Kasre-Nafsi this journey they were often attacked, killed or raped. Thousands of women were abducted on both sides of the border. They were made to convert to the religion of the abductor and were forced into marriage. In many cases women were killed by their own family members to preserve the ‘family honour’. Many children were separated from their parents. Those who did manage to cross the border found that they had no home. For lakhs of these ‘refugees’ the Credit: Nehru Memorial Museum and Library country’s freedom meant life in ‘refugee camps’, for months and sometimes for years. Writers, poets and film-makers in India and Pakistan have expressed the ruthlessness of the killings and the suffering of displacement and violence in their novels, short-stories, poems and films. While recounting the trauma of Partition, they have often used the phrase that the survivors themselves used to describe Partition — as a ‘division of hearts’. The Partition was not merely a division Gandhi in Noakhali (now in Bangladesh) in 1947. of properties, liabilities Challenges of Nation Building 11 and assets, or a political division of Let’s watch a Film the country and the administrative apparatus. What also got divided were GARAM HAWA the financial assets, and things like tables, chairs, typewriters, paper-clips, books and also musical instruments of the police band! The employees of the government and the railways were also ‘divided’. Above all, it was a violent separation of communities who had hitherto lived together as neighbours. It is estimated that the Partition forced about 80 lakh people to migrate across the new border. Between five to ten lakh people were killed in Partition related violence. Beyond the administrative concerns and financial strains, however, the Salim Mirza, a shoe manufacturer Partition posed another deeper issue. in Agra, increasingly finds himself The leaders of the Indian national a stranger amid the people he struggle did not believe in the two-nation has lived with all his life. He feels lost in the emerging reality after theory. And yet, partition on religious Partition. His business suffers basis had taken place. Did that make and a refugee from the other side India a Hindu nation automatically? of partitioned India occupies his Even after large scale migration of ancestral dwelling. His daughter Muslims to the newly created Pakistan, too has a tragic end. He believes the Muslim population in India that things would soon be normal accounted for 12 per cent of the total again. population in 1951. So, how would the government of India treat its Muslim But many of his family members citizens and other religious minorities decide to move to Pakistan. Salim (Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists, is torn between an impulse to Parsis and Jews)? The Partition had move out to Pakistan and an urge already created severe conflict between to stay back. A decisive moment the two communities. comes when Salim witnesses a students’ procession demanding There were competing political fair treatment from the government. interests behind these conflicts. The His son Sikandar has joined the Muslim League was formed to protect procession. Can you imagine the interests of the Muslims in colonial what Mirza Salim finally did? What India. It was in the forefront of the do you think you would have done demand for a separate Muslim nation. in these circumstances? Similarly, there were organisations, which were trying to organise the Year: 1973 Hindus in order to turn India into a Director: M.S. Sathyu Hindu nation. But most leaders of the Screenplay: Kaifi Azmi national movement believed that India Actors: Balraj Sahani, Jalal Aga, must treat persons of all religions Farouque Sheikh, Gita Siddharth 12 Mahatma Gandhi’s sacrifice On the 15th August 1947 Mahatma Gandhi did not participate in any of the Independence Day celebrations. He was in Kolkata in the areas which were torn by gruesome riots between Hindus and Muslims. He was saddened by the communal violence and disheartened that the principles of ahimsa (non-violence) and satyagraha (active but non-violent resistance) that he had lived and worked for, had failed to bind the people in troubled times. Gandhiji went on to persuade the Hindus and Muslims to give up violence. His presence in Kolkata greatly improved the situation, and the coming of independence was celebrated in a spirit of communal harmony, with joyous dancing in the streets. Gandhiji’s prayer meetings attracted large crowds. But this was short lived as riots between Hindus and Muslims erupted once again and Gandhiji had to resort to a fast to bring peace. Next month Gandhiji moved to Delhi where large scale violence had erupted. He was deeply concerned about ensuring that Muslims should be allowed to stay in India with dignity, as equal citizens. He was also concerned about the relations between India and Pakistan. He was unhappy with what he saw as the Indian government’s decision not to honour its financial commitments to Pakistan. With all this in mind he undertook what turned out to be his last fast in January 1948. As in Kolkata, his fast had a dramatic effect in Delhi. Communal tension and violence reduced. Muslims of Delhi and surrounding areas could safely return to their homes. The Government of India agreed to give Pakistan its dues. Gandhiji’s actions were however not liked by all. Extremists in both the communities blamed him for their conditions. He was particularly disliked by those who wanted Hindus to take revenge or who wanted India to become a country for the Hindus, just as Pakistan was for Muslims. They accused Gandhiji of acting in the interests of the Muslims and Pakistan. Gandhiji thought that these people were misguided. He was convinced that any attempt to make India into a country only for the Hindus would destroy India. His steadfast pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists so much that they made several attempts to assassinate Gandhiji. Despite this he refused to accept armed protection and continued to meet everyone during his prayer meetings. Finally, on 30 January 1948, one such extremist, Nathuram Vinayak Godse, walked up to Gandhiji during his evening prayer in Delhi and fired three bullets at him, killing him instantly. Thus ended a life long struggle for truth, non-violence, justice and tolerance. Gandhiji’s death had an almost magical effect on the communal situation in the country. Partition-related anger and violence suddenly subsided. The Government of India cracked down on organisations that were spreading communal hatred. Organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh were banned for some time. Communal politics began to lose its appeal.  13 Janah : Sunil Credit at a. in Kolk crowd a t io n drew a i Ji’s assasin andh ws of G The ne 14 Politics in India since Independence equally and that India should not be a country that gave superior status to adherents of one faith and inferior to those who practiced another religion. All citizens would be equal irrespective of their religious affiliation. Being religious or a believer would not be a test of citizenship. They cherished therefore the ideal of a secular nation. This ideal was enshrined in the Indian Constitution. Shweta noticed that her Nana (maternal grandfather) would get very quiet whenever anyone mentioned Pakistan. One day she decided to Let’s re-search ask him about it. Her Nana told her about how he moved from Lahore to Ludhiana during Partition. Both his parents were killed. Even he would not have survived, but a neighbouring Muslim family gave him shelter and kept him in hiding for several days. They helped him find some relatives and that is how he managed to cross the border and start a new life. Have you heard a similar story? Ask your grandparents or anyone of that generation about their memories of Independence Day, about the celebration, about the trauma of Partition, about the expectations they had from independence. Write down at least two of these stories. Integration of Princely States British India was divided into what were called the British Indian Provinces and the Princely States. The British Indian Provinces were directly under the control of the British government. On the other hand, several large and small states ruled by princes, called the Princely States, enjoyed some form of control over their internal affairs as long as they accepted British supremacy. This was called paramountcy or suzerainty of the British crown. Princely States covered one-third of the land area of the British Indian Empire and one out of four Indians lived under princely rule. The problem Just before Independence it was announced by the British that with the end of their rule over India, paramountcy of the British crown over Princely States would also lapse. This meant that all these states, as many as 565 in all, would become legally independent. The British government took the view that all these states were free to join either India or Pakistan or remain independent if they so wished. This decision was left not to the people but to the princely rulers of these states. This was a very serious problem and could threaten the very existence of a united India. The problems started very soon. First of all, the ruler of Travancore announced that the state had decided on Independence. The Nizam Challenges of Nation Building 15 Note: This illustration is not a map drawn to scale and should not be taken to be an authentic depiction of India’s external boundaries. Can’t we end the Partition of India Isn’t it better that and Pakistan the we now learn to way they did in live and respect Germany? I want each other as to have breakfast independent in Amritsar and nations? lunch in Lahore!  16 Politics in India since Independence of Hyderabad made a similar announcement the next day. Rulers like the Nawab of Bhopal were averse to joining the Constituent Assembly. This response of the rulers of the Princely States meant that after Independence there was a very real possibility that India would get further divided into a number of small countries. The prospects of democracy for the people in these states also looked bleak. This was a strange situation, since the Indian Independence was aimed at unity, self-determination as well as democracy. In most of these princely states, governments were run in a non-democratic manner and the rulers were unwilling to give democratic rights to their populations. “ Government’s approach We are at a momentous The interim government took a firm stance against the possible stage in the history of India. division of India into small principalities of different sizes. The Muslim By common endeavour, we League opposed the Indian National Congress and took the view that can raise the country to the States should be free to adopt any course they liked. Sardar Patel was India’s Deputy Prime Minister and the Home Minister during new greatness, while lack the crucial period immediately following Independence. He played a of unity will expose us to historic role in negotiating with the rulers of princely states firmly but unexpected calamities. I diplomatically and bringing most of them into the Indian Union. It hope the Indian States will may look easy now. But it was a very complicated task which required “ realise fully that if we do not cooperate and work together in the general interest, anarchy and chaos will overwhelm us all, great and small, and lead us to skilful persuasion. For instance, there were 26 small states in today’s Orissa. Saurashtra region of Gujarat had 14 big states, 119 small states and numerous other different administrations. The government’s approach was guided by three considerations. Firstly, the people of most of the princely states clearly wanted to become part of the Indian union. Secondly, the government was prepared to be flexible in giving autonomy to some regions. The idea total ruin... was to accommodate plurality and adopt a flexible approach in dealing with the demands of the regions. Thirdly, in the backdrop of Partition which brought into focus the contest over demarcation of territory, Sardar Patel the integration and consolidation of the territorial boundaries of the Letter to Princely rulers, nation had assumed supreme importance. 1947. Before 15 August 1947, peaceful negotiations had brought almost all states whose territories were contiguous to the new boundaries of India, into the Indian Union. The rulers of most of the states signed a document called the ‘Instrument of Accession’ which meant that their state agreed to become a part of the Union of India. Accession of the Princely States of Junagadh, Hyderabad, Kashmir and Manipur proved more difficult than the rest. The issue of Junagarh was resolved after a plebiscite confirmed people’s desire to join India. You will read about Kashmir in Chapter Eight. Here, let us look at the cases of Hyderabad and Manipur. Challenges of Nation Building 17 Credit: PIB Sardar Patel with the Nizam of Hyderabad Hyderabad Hyderabad, the largest of the Princely States was surrounded entirely by Indian territory. Some parts of the old Hyderabad state are today parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Its ruler carried the title, ‘Nizam’, and he was one of the world’s richest men. The Nizam wanted an independent status for Hyderabad. He Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel entered into what was called the Standstill Agreement with (1875-1950): Leader of India in November 1947 for a year while negotiations with the freedom movement; the Indian government were going on. Congress leader; follower of Mahatma Gandhi; Deputy In the meantime, a movement of the people of Prime Minister and first Home Hyderabad State against the Nizam’s rule gathered force. Minister of independent India; The peasantry in the Telangana region in particular, was played an important role in the victim of Nizam’s oppressive rule and rose against him. the integration of Princely Women who had seen the worst of this oppression joined States with India; member the movement in large numbers. Hyderabad town was the of important committees of nerve centre of this movement. The Communists and the the Constituent Assembly Hyderabad Congress were in the forefront of the movement. on Fundamental Rights, The Nizam responded by unleashing a para-military force Minorities, Provincial known as the Razakars on the people. The atrocities and Constitution, etc. communal nature of the Razakars knew no bounds. They  18 Politics in India since Independence murdered, maimed, raped and looted, targeting particularly the non- Muslims. The central government had to order the army to tackle the situation. In September 1948, Indian army moved in to control the Nizam’s forces. After a few days of intermittent fighting, the Nizam surrendered. This led to Hyderabad’s accession to India. Manipur A few days before Independence, the Maharaja of Manipur, Bodhachandra Singh, signed the Instrument of Accession with the Indian government on the assurance that the internal autonomy of Manipur would be maintained. Under the pressure of public opinion, the Maharaja held elections in Manipur in June 1948 and the state became a constitutional monarchy. Thus Manipur was the first part I wonder what of India to hold an election based on universal adult franchise. happened to all those hundreds In the Legislative Assembly of Manipur there were sharp of kings, queens, differences over the question of merger of Manipur with India. While princes and the state Congress wanted the merger, other political parties were princesses. How opposed to this. The Government of India succeeded in pressurising did they live their lives after the Maharaja into signing a Merger Agreement in September 1949, becoming just without consulting the popularly elected Legislative Assembly of ordinary citizens? Manipur. This caused a lot of anger and resentment in Manipur, the repercussions of which are still being felt. Credit: R. K. Laxman in the Times of India This cartoon comments on the relation between the people and the rulers in the Princely States, and also on Patel’s approach to resolving this issue. Challenges of Nation Building 19 Reorganisation of States The process of nation-building did not come to an end with Partition and integration of Princely States. Now the challenge was to draw the internal boundaries of the Indian states. This was not just a matter of administrative divisions. The boundaries had to be drawn in a way so that the linguistic and cultural plurality of the country could be reflected without affecting the unity of the nation. During colonial rule, the state boundaries were drawn either on administrative convenience or simply coincided with the territories annexed by the British government or the territories ruled by the princely powers. Our national movement had rejected these divisions as artificial and had promised the linguistic principle as the basis of formation of states. In fact after the Nagpur session of Congress in 1920 the principle was recognised as the basis of the reorganisation of the Indian National Congress party itself. Many Provincial Congress “ Committees were created by linguistic zones, which did not follow the administrative divisions of British India. Things changed after Independence and Partition. Our leaders felt that carving out states on the basis of language might lead to..if lingusitic disruption and disintegration. It was also felt that this would draw provinces are formed, it attention away from other social and economic challenges that the country faced. The central leadership decided to postpone matters. The need for postponement was also felt because the fate of the Princely States had not been decided. Also, the memory of Partition was still fresh. This decision of the national leadership was challenged by the local leaders and the people. Protests began in the Telugu speaking areas of “ will also give a fillip to the regional languages. It would be absurd to make Hindustani the medium of instruction in all the regions and it is still more absurd to use English for the old Madras province, which included present day Tamil Nadu, parts this purpose. of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka. The Vishalandhra movement (as the movement for a separate Andhra was called) demanded that the Telugu speaking areas should be separated from the Madras Mahatma Gandhi province of which they were a part and be made into a separate Andhra January1948 province. Nearly all the political forces in the Andhra region were in favour of linguistic reorganisation of the then Madras province. The movement gathered momentum as a result of the Central government’s vacillation. Potti Sriramulu, a Congress leader and a veteran Gandhian, went on an indefinite fast that led to his death after 56 days. This caused great unrest and resulted in violent outbursts in Andhra region. People in large numbers took to the streets. Many were injured or lost their lives in police firing. In Madras, several legislators resigned their seats in protest. Finally, the Prime Minister announced the formation of a separate Andhra state in December 1952. 20 Politics in India since Independence Note: This illustration is not a map drawn to scale and should not be taken to be an authentic depiction of India’s external boundaries. Read the map and answer the following questions: 1. Name the original state from which the following states were carved out: Gujarat Haryana Meghalaya Chhattisgarh 2. Name two states that were affected by the Partition of the country. 3. Name two states today that were once a Union Territory. Challenges of Nation Building 21 Credit: Shankar “Struggle for Survival” (Published in 1953) captures contemporary impression of the demand for linguistic states The formation of Andhra Pradesh spurred the struggle for making of other states on linguistic lines in other parts of the country. These struggles forced the Central Government into appointing a States Reorganisation Commission in 1953 to look into the question of redrawing of the boundaries of states. The Commission in its report accepted that the boundaries of the state should reflect the boundaries of different languages. On the basis of its report the States Reorganisation Act was passed in Potti Sriramulu 1956. This led to the creation of 14 states and six union (1901-1952): Gandhian territories. worker; left government job to participate in Salt Satyagraha; also participated in individual Satyagraha; went on a fast in 1946 demanding that temples in Madras province be opened to dalits; undertook a fast unto death from 19 October Now, isn’t this very interesting? Nehru and other 1952 demanding separate leaders were very popular, and yet the people did not state of Andhra Pradesh; hesitate to agitate for linguistic states against the wishes of the leaders! died during the fast on 15 December 1952. 22 Politics in India since Independence Credit: Shankar “Coaxing the Genie back” (Published in 1956) asked if the State Reorganisation Commission could contain the genie of linguism. One of the most important concerns in the early years was that demands for separate states would endanger the unity of the country. It was felt that linguistic states may foster separatism and create pressures on the newly founded nation. But the leadership, under popular pressure, finally made a choice in favour of linguistic states. It was hoped that if we accept the regional and linguistic claims of all regions, the threat of division and separatism would be reduced. Besides, the accommodation of regional demands and the formation of linguistic states were also seen as more democratic. Now it is more than fifty years since the formation of linguistic states. We can say that linguistic states and the movements for the formation of these states changed the nature of democratic politics and leadership in some basic ways. The path to politics and power was now open to people other than the small English speaking elite. Linguistic reorganisation also gave some uniform basis to the drawing of state boundaries. It did not lead Challenges of Nation Building 23 to disintegration of the country as many had feared earlier. On the contrary it strengthened national unity. Above all, the linguistic states underlined the acceptance of the principle of diversity. When we say that India adopted democracy, it does not simply mean that India embraced a democratic constitution, nor does it merely mean that India adopted the format of elections. The choice was larger than that. It was a choice in favour of recognising and accepting the existence of differences which could at times be oppositional. Democracy, in other words, was associated with plurality of ideas and ways of life. Much of the politics in the later period was to take place within this framework. Fast Forward Creation of new states The acceptance of the principle of linguistic states did not mean, however, that all states immediately became linguistic states. There was an experiment of ‘bilingual’ Bombay state, consisting of Gujarati and Marathi speaking people. After a popular agitation, the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat were created in 1960. In Punjab also, there were two linguistic groups: Hindi speaking and Punjabi speaking. The Punjabi speaking people demanded a separate state. But it was not granted with other states in 1956. Statehood for Punjab came ten years later, in 1966, when the territories of today’s Haryana and Himachal Pradesh were separated from the larger Punjab state. Another major reorganisation of states took place in the north east in 1972. Meghalaya was carved out of Assam in 1972. Manipur and Tripura too emerged as separate states in the same year. The states of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram came into being in 1987. Nagaland had become a state much earlier in 1963. Language did not, however, remain the sole basis of organisation of states. In later years sub-regions raised demands for separate states on the basis of a separate regional culture or complaints of regional imbalance in development. Three such states, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttaranchal, were created in 2000. The story of reorganisation has not come to an end. There are many regions in the country where there are movements demanding separate and smaller states. These include Telangana in Andhra Pradesh, Vidarbha in Maharashtra, Harit Pradesh in the western region of Uttar Pradesh and the northern region of West Bengal. The US has one-fourth of our population but 51 states. Why can’t India have more than 100 states? 24 Politics in India since Independence 1. Which among the following statements about the Partition is incorrect? (a) Partition of India was the outcome of the “two-nation theory.” (b) Punjab and Bengal were the two provinces divided on the basis of religion. (c) East Pakistan and West Pakistan were not contiguous. (d) The scheme of Partition included a plan for transfer of population across the border. 2. Match the principles with the instances: (a) Mapping of boundaries i. Pakistan and on religious grounds Bangladesh (b) Mapping of boundaries on grounds ii. India and of different languages Pakistan (c) Demarcating boundaries within a iii. Jharkhand and country by geographical zones Chhattisgarh (d) Demarcating boundaries within a iv. Himachal Pradesh EXERCISES country on administrative and and Uttarakhand political grounds 3. Take a current political map of India (showing outlines of states) and mark the location of the following Princely States. (a) Junagadh (b) Manipur (c) Mysore (d) Gwalior 4. Here are two opinions – Bismay: “The merger with the Indian State was an extension of democracy to the people of the Princely States.” Inderpreet: “I am not so sure, there was force being used. Democracy comes by creating consensus.” What is your own opinion in the light of accession of Princely States and the responses of the people in these parts? 5. Read the following very different statements made in August 1947 – “Today you have worn on your heads a crown of thorns. The seat of power is a nasty thing. You have to remain ever wakeful on that seat…. you have to be more humble and forbearing…now there will be no end to your being tested.” — M.K GANDHI “…India will awake to a life of freedom….we step out from the old to the new…we end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again. The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity…” — JAWAHARLAL NEHRU Spell out the agenda of nation building that flows from these two statements. Which one appeals more to you and why? Challenges of Nation Building 25 6. What are the reasons being used by Nehru for keeping India secular? Do you think these reasons were only ethical and sentimental? Or were there some prudential reasons as well? 7. Bring out two major differences between the challenge of nation building for eastern and western regions of the country at the time of Independence. 8. What was the task of the States Reorganisation Commission? What was its most salient recommendation? 9. It is said that the nation is to a large extent an “ imagined community” held together by common beliefs, history, political aspirations and imaginations. Identify the features that make India a nation. 10. Read the following passage and answer the questions below: “In the history of nation-building only the Soviet experiment bears comparison with the Indian. There too, a sense of unity had to be forged between many diverse ethnic groups, religious, linguistic communities and social classes. The scale – geographic as well as demographic – was comparably massive. The raw material the state had to work with was equally unpropitious: a people divided by faith and driven by debt and disease.” — RAMACHANDRA GUHA (a) List the commonalities that the author mentions between India and Soviet Union and give one example for each of these from India. (b) The author does not talk about dissimilarities between the two experiments. Can you mention two dissimilarities? (c) In retrospect which of these two experiment worked better and why? LET US DO IT TOGETHER Read a novel/ story on Partition by an Indian and a Pakistani/ Bangladeshi writer. What are the commonalities of the experience across the border? Collect all the stories from the ‘Let’s Re-search’ suggestion in this chapter. Prepare a wallpaper that highlights the common experiences and has stories on the unique experiences.  Credit: Shankar In this chapter… The challenge of nation-building, covered in the last chapter, was This famous sketch accompanied by the challenge of instituting democratic politics. Thus, by Shankar appeared electoral competition among political parties began immediately after on the cover of his FROOHFWLRQ ă Don’t Spare Independence. In this chapter, we look at the first decade of electoral Me, Shankar. The politics in order to understand original sketch was drawn in the context of the establishment of a system of free and fair elections; India’s China policy. But the domination of the Congress party in the years immediately this cartoon captures after Independence; and the dual role of the Congress during the era the emergence of opposition parties and their policies. of one-party dominance.  chapter era of one-party dominance 2 Challenge of building democracy You now have an idea of the difficult circumstances in which independent India was born. You have read about the serious challenge of nation-building that confronted the country right in the beginning. Faced with such serious challenges, leaders in many other countries of the world decided that their country could not afford “ to have democracy. They said that national unity was their first priority and that democracy will introduce differences and conflicts. In India,…. Therefore many of the countries that gained freedom from colonialism experienced non-democratic rule. It took various forms: nominal …hero-worship, plays a part democracy but effective control by one leader, one party rule or direct in its politics unequalled army rule. Non-democratic regimes always started with a promise of restoring democracy very soon. But once they established themselves, it was very difficult to dislodge them. The conditions in India were not very different. But the leaders of the newly independent India decided to take the more difficult path. Any other path would have been surprising, for our freedom struggle in magnitude by the part “ it plays in the politics of any other country….But in politics,....hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and eventual dictatorship. was deeply committed to the idea of democracy. Our leaders were conscious of the critical role of politics in any democracy. They did not see politics as a problem; they saw it as a way of solving the problems. Dr. Babasaheb Every society needs to decide how it will govern and regulate itself. Ambedkar There are always different policy alternatives to choose from. There Speech in Constituent are different groups with different and conflicting aspirations. How Assembly do we resolve these differences? Democratic politics is an answer to 25 November 1949 this question. While competition and power are the two most visible things about politics, the purpose of political activity is and should be deciding and pursuing public interest. This is the route our leaders decided to take. Last year you studied how our Constitution was drafted. You would remember that the Constitution was ready and signed on 26 November 1949 and it came into effect on 26 January 1950. At that time the country was being ruled by an interim government. It was now necessary to install the first democratically elected government of the country. The Constitution had laid down the rules, now the What’s so special machine had to be put in place. Initially it was thought that this was about our being a only a matter of a few months. The Election Commission of India was democracy? Sooner set up in January 1950. Sukumar Sen became the first Chief Election or later every country Commissioner. The country’s first general elections were expected has become a sometime in 1950 itself. democracy, isn’t it?  28 Politics in India since Independence But the Election Commission discovered that it was not going to be easy to hold a free and fair election in a country of India’s size. Holding an election required delimitation or drawing the boundaries of the electoral constituencies. It also required preparing the electoral rolls, or the list of all the citizens eligible to vote. Both these tasks took a lot of time. When the first draft of the rolls was published, it was discovered that the names of nearly 40 lakh women were not recorded in the list. They were simply listed as “wife of …” or “daughter of …”. The Election Commission refused to accept these entries and ordered a revision if possible and deletion if necessary. Preparing for the first That was a good general election was a mammoth exercise. No election on this scale decision. But what about men who still had ever been conducted in the world before. At that time there refer to a woman as were 17 crore eligible voters, who had to elect about 3,200 MLAs and Mrs. Somebody, as if 489 Members of Lok Sabha. Only 15 per cent of these eligible voters she does not have a were literate. Therefore the Election Commission had to think of some name of her own? special method of voting. The Election Commission trained over 3 lakh officers and polling staff to conduct the elections. It was not just the size of the country and the electorate that made this election unusual. The first general election was also the first big test of democracy in a poor and illiterate country. Till then democracy had existed only in the prosperous countries, mainly in Europe and North America, where nearly everyone was literate. By that time many countries in Europe had not given voting rights to all women. In this context India’s experiment with universal adult franchise Credit: Shankar A cartoonist’s impression of the election committee formed by the Congress to choose party candidates in 1952. On the committee, besides Nehru: Morarji Desai, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Dr B.C. Roy, Kamaraj Nadar, Rajagopalachari, Jagjivan Ram, Maulana Azad, D.P. Mishra, P.D. Tandon and Govind Ballabh Pant. Era of One-party Dominance 29 Changing methods of voting These days we use an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) to record voters’ preferences. But that is not how we started. In the first general election, it was decided to place inside each polling booth a box for each candidate with the election symbol of that candidate. Each voter was given a blank ballot paper which they had to drop into the box of the candidate they wanted to vote for. About 20 lakh steel boxes were used for this purpose. A presiding officer from Punjab described how he prepared the ballot boxes—“Each box had to have its candidate’s symbol, both inside and outside it, and outside on either side, had to be displayed the name of the candidate in Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi along with the number of the constituency, the polling station and the polling booth. The paper seal with the numerical description of the candidate, signed by the presiding officer, had to be inserted in the token frame and its A sample of the window closed by its door which had to be fixed in its place ballot paper at the other end by means of a wire. All this had to be used from the third to done on the day previous to the one fixed for polling. To fix symbols and labels the boxes had first to be rubbed with Electronic Voting the thirteenth Machine general sandpaper or a piece of brick. I found that it took about elections to Lok Sabha five hours for six persons, including my two daughters, to complete this work. All this was done at my house.” After the first two elections this method was changed. Now the ballot paper carried the names and symbols of all the candidates and the voter was required to put a stamp on the name of the candidate they wanted to vote for. This method worked for nearly forty years. Towards the end of 1990s the Election Commission started using the EVM. By 2004 the entire country had shifted to the EVM. Let’s re-search Ask the elders in your family and neighbourhood about their experience of participating in elections. Did anyone vote in the first or second general election? Who did they vote for and why? Is there someone who has used all the three methods of voting? Which one did they prefer? In which ways do they find the elections of those days different from the present ones? 30 Politics in India since Independence appeared very bold and risky. An Indian editor called it “the biggest gamble in history”. Organiser, a magazine, wrote that Jawaharlal Nehru “would live to confess the failure of universal adult franchise in India”. A British member of the Indian Civil Service claimed that “a future and more enlightened age will view with astonishment the absurd farce of recording the votes of millions of illiterate people”. The elections had to be postponed twice and finally held from October 1951 to February 1952. But this election is Maulana Abul Kalam referred to as the 1952 election since most parts of the Azad (1888-1958): country voted in January 1952. It took six months for original name — Abul the campaigning, polling and counting to be completed. Kalam Mohiyuddin (OHFWLRQV ZHUH FRPSHWLWLYH ă WKHUH ZHUH RQ DQ DYHUDJH PRUH Ahmed; scholar of than four candidates for each seat. The level of participation Islam; freedom fighter was encouraging — more than half the eligible voters turned and Congress leader; out to vote on the day of elections. When the results were proponent of Hindu- declared these were accepted as fair even by the losers. Muslim unity; opposed The Indian experiment had proved the critics wrong. The to Partition; member of Times of India held that the polls have “confounded all those Constituent Assembly; sceptics who thought the introduction of adult franchise Education Minister in too risky an experiment in this country”. The Hindustan the first cabinet of free Times claimed that “there is universal agreement that the India. Indian people have conducted themselves admirably in the largest experiment in democratic elections in the history of the world”. Observers outside India were equally impressed. India’s general election of 1952 became a landmark in the history of democracy all over the world. It was no longer possible to argue that democratic elections could not be held in conditions of poverty or lack of education. It proved that democracy could be practiced anywhere in the world. Congress dominance in the first three general elections The results of the first general election did not surprise anyone. The Indian National Congress was expected to win this election. The Congress party, as it was popularly known, had inherited the legacy of the national movement. It was the only party then to have an organisation spread all over the country. And finally, in Jawaharlal Nehru, the party had the most popular and charismatic leader in Indian politics. He led the Congress campaign and toured through the country. When the final results were declared, the extent of the victory of the Congress did surprise many. The party won 364 of the 489 seats in the first Lok Sabha and finished way ahead of any other challenger. The Communist Party of India that came next in terms of seats won only 16 seats. The state elections were held with the Lok Era of One-party Dominance 31 Note: This illustration is not a map drawn to scale and should not be taken to be an authentic depiction of India’s external boundaries.  32 Politics in India since Independence Sabha elections. The Congress scored big victory in those elections as well. It won a majority of seats in all the states except Travancore-Cochin (part of today’s Kerala), Madras and Orissa. Finally even in these states the Congress formed the government. So the party ruled all over the country at the national and the state level. As expected, Jawaharlal Nehru became the Prime Minister after the first general election. A look at the electoral map on the last page would give you a sense of the dominance of the Congress during the period 1952-1962. In the second and the third general elections, held in 1957 and 1962 respectively, the Congress maintained the same position in the Lok Sabha by winning three-fourth of indu the seats. None of the opposition parties : The H could win even one-tenth of the number of seats won by the Congress. In the state assembly elections, the Congress did not Credit get majority in a few cases. The most significant of these cases was in Kerala in 1957 when a coalition led by the CPI formed the government. Apart from exceptions like this, the Congress controlled the national and all the state governments. The extent of the victory of the Congress was artificially boosted by our electoral system. The Congress won three out of every four seats but it did not get even half of the votes. In 1952, for example, the Congress obtained 45 per cent of the total votes. But it managed to win 74 per cent of the seats. The Socialist Party, the second largest party in terms of votes, secured more than 10 per cent of the votes all over the country. But it could not even win three per cent of the seats. How did this happen? Rajkumari Amrit Kaur For this you need to recall the discussion about the first-past- (1889-1964): A Gandhian the-post method in your textbook ‘Constitution at Work’ last and Freedom fighter; year. belonged to the royal family of Kapurthala; In this system of election, that has been adopted in our inherited Christian country, the party that gets more votes than others tends to get religion from her mother; much more than its proportional share. That is exactly what member of Constituent worked in favour of the Congress. If we add up the votes of all Assembly; Minister for the non-Congress candidates it was more than the votes of the Health in independent Congress. But the non-Congress votes were divided between India’s first ministry; different rival parties and candidates. So the Congress was still continued as Health way ahead of the opposition and managed to win. Minister till 1957.  33 Communist victory in Kerala As early as in 1957, the Congress party had the bitter taste of defeat in Kerala. In the assembly elections held in March 1957, the Communist Party won the largest number of seats to the Kerala legislature. The party won 60 of the 126 seats and had the support of five independents. The governor invited E. M. S. Namboodiripad, the leader of the Communist legislature party, to form the ministry. For the first time in the world, a Communist party government had come to power through democratic elections. On losing power in the State, the Congress party began a ‘liberation struggle’ against the elected government. The CPI had come to power on the promise of carrying out radical and progressive policy measures. The Communists claimed that the agitation was led by vested interests and religious organisations. In 1959 the Congress government at Credit: Hindu the Centre dismissed the Communist government in Kerala under Article 356 of the Constitution. This decision proved very controversial and was widely cited as the first instance of the misuse of constitutional emergency powers. E.M.S. Namboodiripad, leading a procession of Communist Party workers, after his ministry was dismissed from office in Trivandrum in August 1959. 34 Politics in India since Independence Socialist Party The origins of the Socialist Party can be traced back to the mass movement stage of the Indian National Congress in the pre-independence era. The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was formed within the Congress in 1934 by a group of young leaders who wanted a more radical and egalitarian Congress. In 1948, the Congress amended its constitution to prevent its members from having a dual party membership. This forced the Socialists to form a separate Socialist Party in 1948. The Party’s electoral performance caused much disappointment to its supporters. Although the Party had presence in most of the states of India, it could achieve electoral success only in a few pockets. The socialists believed in the ideology of democratic socialism which distinguished them both from the Congress as well as from the Communists. They criticised the Congress for favouring capitalists and landlords and for ignoring the workers and the peasants. But the socialists faced a dilemma when in 1955 the Congress declared its goal to be the socialist Acharya Narendra pattern of society. Thus it became difficult for the socialists Dev (1889-1956): to present themselves as an effective alternative to the Freedom fighter and Congress. Some of them, led by Rammanohar Lohia, founding President of increased their distance from and criticism of the Congress the Congress Socialist party. Some others like Asoka Mehta advocated a limited Party; jailed several cooperation with the Congress. times during the freedom movement; The Socialist Party went through many splits and reunions active in peasants’ leading to the formation of many socialist parties. These movement; a scholar included the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party, the Praja Socialist of Buddhism; after Party and Samyukta Socialist Party. Jayaprakash Narayan, independence led the Achyut Patwardhan, Asoka Mehta, Acharya Narendra Dev, Socialist Party and Rammanohar Lohia and S.M. Joshi were among the leaders later the Praja Socialist of the socialist parties. Many parties in contemporary India, Party. like the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United) and the Janata Dal (Secular) trace their origins to the Socialist Party. Era of One-party Dominance 35 Nature of Congress dominance India is not the only country to have experienced the dominance of one party. If we look around the world, we find many other examples of one-party dominance. But there is a crucial difference between these and the Indian experience. In the rest of the cases the dominance of one party was ensured by compromising democracy. In some countries like China, Cuba and Syria the constitution permits only a single party to rule the country. Some others like Myanmar, Belarus, Egypt, and Eritrea are effectively one-party states due to legal and military measures. Until a few years ago, Mexico, South Korea and Taiwan were also effectively one-party dominant states. What distinguished the dominance of the Congress party in India from all these cases was it happened under democratic conditions. Many parties contested elections in conditions of free and fair elections and yet the Congress managed to win election after election. This was similar to the dominance the African National Congress has enjoyed in South Africa after the end of apartheid. Founded in 1929, as National Revolutionary Party and later renamed as the Institutional Revolutionary Party, the PRI (in Spanish), exercised power in Mexico for almost six decades. It represented the legacy Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji of the Mexican revolution. Originally Ambedkar (1891-1956): Leader of PRI was a mixture of various interests the anti-caste movement and the including political and military leaders, labour and peasant struggle for justice to the Dalits; organisations and numerous political parties. Over a period scholar and intellectual; founder of time, Plutarco Elías Calles, the founder of PRI, was able of Independent Labour Party; later to capture the organisation and thereby the government. founded the Scheduled Castes Elections were held at regular intervals and it was the Federation; planned the formation PRI which won every time. Other parties existed in name of the Republican Party of India; only so as to give the ruling party greater legitimacy. The Member of Viceroy’s Executive electoral laws were operated in a manner so as to ensure Council during the Second that the PRI always won. Elections were often rigged and World War; Chairman, Drafting manipulated by the ruling party. Its rule was described Committee of the Constituent as ‘the perfect dictatorship’. Finally the party lost in the Assembly; Minister in Nehru’s Presidential elections held in 2000. Mexico is no longer first cabinet after Independence; a one-party dominated country. But the tactics adopted resigned in 1951 due to differences by the PRI during the period of its dominance had a long- over the Hindu Code Bill; adopted term effect on the health of democracy. The citizens have Buddhism in 1956, with thousands yet to develop full confidence in the free and fair nature of followers. of elections. 36 Politics in India since Independence The roots of this extraordinary success of the Congress party go back to the legacy of the freedom struggle. Congress was seen as inheritor of the national movement. Many leaders who were in the forefront of that struggle were now contesting elections as Congress candidates. The Congress was already a very well-organised party and by the time the other parties could even think of a strategy, the Congress had already started its campaign. In fact, many parties were formed only around Independence or after that. Thus, the Congress had the ‘first off the blocks’ advantage. By Rafi Ahmed Kidwai the time of Independence the party had not only spread (1894-1954): across the length and breadth of the country as we had Congress leader from seen in the maps but also had an organisational network U.P.; Minister in U.P. down to the local level. Most importantly, as the Congress in 1937 and again was till recently a national movement, its nature was all- in 1946; Minister for inclusive. All these factors contributed to the dominance of Communications in the Congress party. the first ministry of free India; Food and Congress as social and ideological coalition Agriculture Minister, 1952-54. You have already studied the history of how Congress evolved from its origins in 1885 as a pressure group for the newly educated, professional and commercial classes to a mass movement in the twentieth century. This laid the basis for its eventual transformation into a mass political party and its subsequent domination of the political system. Thus the Congress began as a party dominated by the English speaking, upper caste, upper middle-class and urban elite. But with every civil disobedience movement it launched, its social base widened. It brought together diverse groups, whose interests were often contradictory. Peasants and industrialists, urban dwellers and villagers, workers and owners, Earlier we had middle, lower and upper classes and castes, all found space in the coalition in a Congress. Gradually, its leadership also expanded beyond the upper party, now we caste and upper class professionals to agriculture based leaders with have coalition of a rural orientation. By the time of Independence, the Congress was parties. Does it transformed into a rainbow-like social coalition broadly representing mean that we have had a coalition India’s diversity in terms of classes and castes, religions and languages government since and various interests. 1952? Many of these groups merged their identity within the Congress. Very often they did not and continued to exist within the Congress as groups and individuals holding different beliefs. In this sense the Congress was an ideological coalition as well. It accommodated the revolutionary and pacifist, conservative and radical, extremist and moderate and the right, left and all shades of the centre. The Congress was a ‘platform’ for numerous groups, interests and even political parties to take part in the national movement. In pre-Independence days, many organisations and parties with their own constitution and organisational structure were allowed to exist within the Congress. Era of One-party Dominance 37 The Communist Party of India In the early 1920s communist groups emerged in different parts of India taking inspiration from the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and advocating socialism as the solution to problems affecting the country. From 1935, the Communists worked mainly from within the fold of the Indian National Congress. A parting of ways took place in December 1941, when the Communists decided to support the British in their war against Nazi Germany. Unlike other non-Congress parties the CPI had a well-oiled party machinery and dedicated cadre at the time of Independence. However, Independence raised different voices in the party. The basic question that troubled the party was the nature of Indian independence. Was India really free or was freedom a sham? Soon after Independence, the party thought that the transfer of power in 1947 was not true independence and encouraged violent uprisings in Telangana. The Communists failed to generate popular support for their position and were crushed by the armed forces. This force