INDIAN SOCIAL DEMOCRATS RESHUFFLE FORCES*
Mr. Asoka Mehta's expulsion from the Praja Socialist party [PSP] marks yet another phase in the chequered, crisis-ridden history of "social democracy" in this country.
For almost a decade now, Mr. Mehta has been exploring "areas of co-operation" between him and the Congress leadership. He did not find much support from among his own party colleagues in this task,
Finally, when he was offered the Deputy Chairmanship of the Planning Commission last year, he accepted it. "Incompatible" . Protesting against this, the National Executive of the PSP "requested" him to resign from the party, since his new post, in the words of the chairman of the PSP, Mr. S. M. Joshi, was "4 noompatible" with the role of the PSP as a "militant" socialist opposition to the Congress, "controlled by capitalists and vested interests."
. But Mr. Mehta. turned down the "request," expecting perhaps that the party would never take any action against him, Now that he has been expelled, his supporters have | announced their decision to resign from the party en bloc,
Mr, Joshi, however, hopes to neutralise these "losses" by seeking unification With the Socialist party [SP], led by Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, who split away from the parent body nine years ago.
Dr, Lohiats Advice
Dr. Lohia, on his part, has already advised his followers to join the PSP "unconditionally." His advice was endorsed by the National Executive of the SP at its recent Lucknow meeting without waiting to ascertain the views of members through a convention,
A decision on unification is now expected — to be taken at the “national conferences of the two parties,
The return of the prqdigal to the party fold has its own signi-~ ficance, insofar as it lends a semblance of unity to forces of "social democracy" in India, The fundamental question is whether the united socialist party to be set up will act as a new pole of attraction to the entire left movement, now in the throes of an ideological and “First published in Tide [February 22], a Bombay weekly.
1L5—
organisational crisis,
Nine years ago, Dr.. Lohia, then launching his new party, had held out the assurance that it would capture power in seven years,
"Seven=year Itoh"
Fascinated by his "seven-year~itch," which was reinforced by his emotional speeches and fire-eating antics, many young people joined the SP only to be disillusioned sooner or-later, Ostensibly to realise his objective, Dr, Lohia launched mass campaign after mass campaign -=— in pursuit of what he called a. technique of “pormanent satyagraha" -- on overy conceivable issue, not excluding that of abolishing English as an official language, -
Dr, Lohia soon realised that his "permanent Satyagraha" was a poor substitute for a real socialist movement with a well«defined political and ideological perspective. When his isolated "struggles" failed to attract followers, he began to flirt with extreme right-. wing parties like the Jan Sangh and Swatantra party in a vain bid to’ form a national front with the twin objective of defeating Communism and denigrating Prime Minister Nehru, ‘
Futile Acrobatios
When he detected signs of a split in the CGPI [Communist. party -of India], he thought he could draw the so-called "left" Communist into a militant opposition party to fight the Congress. Both the attempts misfired, oO -
These acrobatics in the political arena have not brought the SP anywhero near power, Dr, Lohia is more bitter and more frustrated: than ever before, He has realised that he has failed to make a real impact on the Indian people in spite of his radicalism. He is now anxious to send his followers back into the fold of the parent party, with which he never had any fundamental ideological differenoos, The PSP and the SP were two poles of "social democracy,"
This raises an important question with regard to the role of "social democratic" partics in an underdeveloped country like India, In advanced countries of Europe, social democracy did play a role by offering "prudent" opposition to the ruling classes in a poriod of capitalist prosperity. The prospects of social democracy emerging as a serious challenge to the ruling class in India are limited,
When the Congress Socialist party.[CSP].was formed in tho thirties in opposition to the Gandhian leadership of the Congress, the CSP was described as a product of the "sectarian sins" of the Indian Communists, Had the Communists remained loyal to the Indian revolution, instead of acting as "faithful interpreters" of the Kremlin's foreign policy in the Stalin period, the left movement as a whole would perhaps have taken a different turn altogether in this country,
When the CSP came out of the Congress to form the SP in 1948, it gave promise of emerging as the main force of left opposition to the Congress, Its electoral debacle in L952, however, dashed all such hopes to the ground,
Yanti-Communist" Shell
Soon the Socialists merged with the Praja party, a group of dissident Congressmen, — to form the PSP in 1953, This was countered by the Lohia-ite split in 1954,
Historically speaking, the CPI as a "party of the proletariat" should have played the role of a consolidator of the Indian left, but its subservience to Moscow isolated it from the social democrats who withdrew more and more into a rigid anti-Communist shell,
In that sense, the entire left in India is facing a serious political crisis at the present moment, What is happening inside the PSP and the SP, and for that matter even inside the CPI, is a roflection of the wider political crisis outside, which has resulted in a new process of permutations and combinations among the numerous left groups, .
The left as a whole lacks a correct political perspective at present; it has not been able to define its political tasks in rolation to the Congress which despite being controlled by vested inter~ ests, claims to be building-.socialism, What is required is a realignment of left forces in the country on the basis of a clear-cut programme of action to bring about speedy socialist transformation of Indian socicty,.
Common Endeavour
Tho PSP-SP merger, should it materialise ultimately, has only a symbolic value, The merger is no guarantee in itself against future splits, so characteristic of social democracy,
Genuine socialists, whether they are in the existing traditional left parties or outside, must come together to assume leadership of the classes they claim to represent in their common endeavour to bring about a "socialist revolution" in India,
GANZIBAR TO NATIONALIZE LAND
Zanzibarts President Karume announced March 8 that all the land in the island is soon to be nationalized, No exemptions will be made for the grounds of clubs. owned by foreigners. The announcement was made immediately following tea with British minister Duncan Sandys at the famous English Club, This Club, too, said Karume, was marked for nationalization,
~1 7m