Praja Socialist Party

In September 1952, the Socialist Party and the KMPP merged to form Praja Socialist Party (PSP), with J.B. Kripalani as the chairman and Ashoka Mehta as the general secretary. With the merger, it became the largest opposition party to the Congress with all India presence. But the party could not maintain its cohesion for long.

In June 1953, at the party’s Betul conference, Ashok Mehta called for support to the ruling party, as he believed that in a backward country like India the crucial task was economic development—a common challenge for all political parties. Mehta’s thesis was rejected by the rest of the party which accepted Rammanohar Lohia’s approach.

Lohia believed in a position of equidistance from both the Congress and the Communists, and supported the organisation of militant mass movements.

Lohia and his group left the PSP at the end of 1955. While Acharya Narendra Dev died in 1956, Jayaprakash Narayan, in 1954, announced that he would dedicate his life to Bhoodan and other constructive activities. In 1957, after the general elections, Jayaprakash Narayan left active politics, declaring that party politics was not suitable for India and campaigned for ‘partyless democracy’. Kripalani, in 1960, left the party too, and three years later, Ashok Mehta agreed to become the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission. Ashok Mehta joined the Congress Party with almost one-third of PSP cadres with him.

Lohiya formed the Socialist Party which in 1964 merged with the PSP to form the Samyukta (or United) Socialist Party (SSP). In 1965 the party split again—Lohia’s group kept the SSP label, while his critics started a fresh PSP.