Asoka Mehta (24 October 1911, Bhavnagar – 10 December 1984, New Delhi) was an Indian political activist and

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

politician. He helped organize the socialist wing

Congress Socialist Party The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress. It was founded in 1934 by Congress members who rejected what they saw as the anti-rational mysticism of Gandhi as well as the sectarian attitude of ...

of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

, along with Rambriksh Benipuri,

Jaya Prakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

, and was heavily involved in the politics and government of the city of

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

Life

Early life

Ashok Mehta was born in

Bhavnagar Bhavnagar is a city and the headquarters of Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was founded in 1723 by Bhavsinhji Gohil. It was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Dominion ...

on 24 October 1911 to Ranjitram Mehta, a Gujarati writer. He completed his primary education from

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

and Sholapur. He graduated from

Bombay University University of Mumbai is a public state university in Mumbai. It is one of the largest university systems in the world with over 549,000 students on its campuses and affiliated colleges. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. It was est ...

in 1931 where he was introduced to

Swadeshi Movement The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public i ...

Career

He was imprisoned in 1932 for participating in Civil Disobedience Movement. Mehta was active participant during the Quit India movement in 1942 and was arrested by the British. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment five times. After India's independence, he helped organize

trade unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

in Bombay and was one of the founders of

INTUC The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) is a National trade union center, national trade union centre in India. Founded on 3 May 1947, it is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation. The INTUC claims a membership of ...

. He also served as

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Bombay city from 1946 to 1947. Mehta retired from active politics in the early 1950s, and wrote several books on his experiences, on India's freedom struggle, and on the importance of socialist reforms. In 1950, he was elected as the president of the eighth session of Socialist Party. Ashoka Mehta was a founder member of Socialist Party and when, in September 1952, the

Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party The Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party (''Farmer Worker People's Party''), or Praja Party for short, was a political party of India. Established in 1951, it merged with the Socialist Party to form the Praja Socialist Party in the following year. The A ...

and the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

merged to form the

Praja Socialist Party The Praja Socialist Party, abbreviated as PSP, was an Indian political party. It was founded in 1952 when the Socialist Party, led by Jayaprakash Narayan, Rambriksh Benipuri, Acharya Narendra Deva and Basawon Singh (Sinha), merged with the ...

(PSP) in which the major cementing role was played by Ram Manohar Lohia and Mehta, Asoka Mehta was appointed the General Secretary of the Praja Socialist Party (PSP) and later served as the President of the party from the year 1959 to 1963. He became new party's general secretary. He was Praja Socialist Party's president during 1959-1963. He was a founding member of the first Governing Body of National Council of Applied Economic Research in New Delhi, India’s first independent economic policy institute, established in 1956. In 1963, he served as deputy chairman of the Planning Commission. He also served as a Union Minister after 1964. He agreed to be appointed the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission. He joined

in 1964, after his expulsion from Praja Socialist Party. After Congress split in 1969 and the faction Congress (I) was led by Indira Gandhi, Mehta was part of the Congress (O) faction. He was a member of 1st and 2nd Lok Sabha during 1954-1957 and 1957-1962. He was elected third time for 4th Lok Sabha from Bhandara. He was a member of Rajya Sabha from 3 April 1966 to 26 February 1967. He was arrested during the Emergency on 26 June 1975 and detained in Rohtak Jail, Haryana.Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: A World Survey
Volume 3, 1987 In 1977 he was the Chairman of Ashok Mehta Committee under the Janata government. He died in New Delhi on 10 December 1984.

Major works

He is author of following noted books: * ''Economic Planning in India'' * ''Who Owns India?'' (1950) * ''Democratic Socialism'' (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan) * ''Studies in Socialism'' (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan) * ''Reflections on Socialist Era'' (C. Chand and Co.)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Asoka 1911 births 1984 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in India Indian independence activists from Gujarat Indian socialists Mayors of Mumbai Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra India MPs 1952–1957 India MPs 1957–1962 India MPs 1967–1970 People from Bhavnagar People from Bhandara Praja Socialist Party politicians Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Prisoners and detainees of British India Gujarati people English-language writers from India Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra Janata Party politicians