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The Indian National Congress, as some would like to believe it was the only unified and homogenised political organisation that led India. However, there were many schisms within the Congress and many disagreements. J.P. Narayan was the face of one such major schism.
Happened on October 21 1934
Hailing from the Bengal presidency, Jayprakash Narayan was someone who had a penchant for education within him. This penchant took him to the United States to pursue his higher studies. He used to pay for his fees at Berkeley by doing a variety of odd jobs like picking grapes and working at a garage. He was forced to change colleges when Berkeley doubled their fees.
He finally took up sociology in Wisconsin, where he was duly charmed by Karl Marx’s Das Kapital. It was only a coincidence that during the same time the Russian Revolution of 1917 became successful. This made J.P. Narayan realise that Marxism was the only way to bring equality into an oppressed society.
After showcasing his academic prowess in the United States, Jayprakash Narayan came back to Indian as a certified Marxist in 1929. He was duly invited by Jawaharlal Nehru to join the Congress, Gandhi became his mentor.
Jayprakash Narayan joined the Congress during a time when some of the leaders were growing extremely weary of Gandhi’s moderate methods. They rejected the ideas of the father of the nation on grounds that his ideas were extremely irrational in nature. However, these leaders were also opposed to the independent nature of the Communist Party of Indian and their sectarian attitude.
All these ideas took momentum during the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1932. J.P. Narayan was captivated in the Nasik Jail along with Minoo Masani, Ram Manohar Lohia, Ashok Mehta, Yusuf Desai and Achyut Patwardhana. The seed of the infamous Congress Socialist Party was laid within the walls of Nasik Jail.
After he was released, Narayan called for a meeting in Patna where he established the Bihar Congress Socialist Party. Later on, an All India Congress Socialist Party was found with him as the general secretary and Acharya Narendra Deva as president.
This was the unique left wing of the Indian National Congress, the first of its nature. Members of this fraternity firmly believed in the ideals of Fabianism. These people would work within the Congress fold to give immense support to the peasant and trade unions for their struggles. They believed in the ideas of secularism that would unite the masses.
There was however a major difference between the Congress Socialists and the Communists. The Congress Socialists owed their allegiance to the Indian National Congress while the Communists owed their allegiance to the Comintern.
The Congress Socialist Party had to face a lot of hostilities from the “Old Guards” of Congress. Individuals like Sardar Patel, Rajendra Prasad and Pattavi Sitaramyya did not hold back in calling the founders of the new party “scum” and even condemned their radical programme. However, Nehru’s attitude was extremely hesitant although he was sympathetic to the socialists because he could never disappoint Gandhi to openly join the socialists.
Later on, the importance of this group declined as they couldn’t function under the hegemony of Congress. The socialists could not forgo their allegiance to Congress neither could they risk a break off to join Netaji’s newly formed Forward Bloc which would unify all left-leaning elements within the Congress. Although, this development remains a momentous one as Congress initially showed the will to support an alternate view other than their own.
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