All India Forward Bloc (Ruikar) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, emerging out of split from the

All India Forward Bloc The All India Forward Bloc ( AIFB) is a Left-wing nationalism, left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a Political faction, faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose, and was strongest ...

History

In the spring of 1948 the recently reorganized All India Forward Bloc split into two factions. In February the Central Committee of AIFB met in

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

to discuss the situation after Independence and Partition. At the meeting it was decided that AIFB should break all relations to 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 ...

and that a separate party should be created out of the branches in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. The then general secretary of the party, Sheel Bhadra Yagee effectively dissolved the

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

state committee of the party, and appointed ''ad hoc'' committees in

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

. This spurred discontent inside the party. Leading the rebellion against Yagee was the party president, S.S. Cavesheer. Yagee decided to resign as general secretary. In May the Central Committee met again and appointed

Ramchandra Sakharam Ruikar Ramchandra Sakharam Ruikar was a pioneer of the Indian labour movement. He was born on 8 January 1895 in Rui, Kolhapur, Maharashtra. He went graduated from college from Pune and Nagpur with a masters in history and economics. He created a legal s ...

as the new general secretary. Yagee grouped his followers around himself, and by this time the two factions virtually functioned as two separate parties. The group led by Ruikar had its emphasis on

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

rather than

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

, and called themselves 'Subhasists'. On 29–31 December the Ruikar faction held a congress in

Ashutosh College Asutosh College, established in 1916, is a semi-government college in Kolkata. It is considered as one of the most prestigious educational landmarks in Kolkata .It offers undergraduate level courses in various arts, commerce and science subjects ...

Hall,

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. Ruikar was elected general secretary and Cavesheer as president. At the same time the Marxist faction held a congress in Hooghly. Thus the split was complete. The Ruikar-led party adopted the

n tricolour with a leaping tiger as their flag, identical to the one used by

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Fascist Japan left a l ...

Indian National Army The Indian National Army (INA, sometimes Second INA; ''Azad Hind Fauj'' ; 'Free Indian Army') was a Empire of Japan, Japanese-allied and -supported armed force constituted in Southeast Asia during World War II and led by Indian Nationalism#An ...

. In 1951 the issue of reunification was raised inside Ruikar's party. In June the Central Committee of the party held a meeting which decided to move ahead with the reunification of Forward Bloc. Ruikar and Leela Roy disagreed with the decision, and were expelled. The two Forward Blocs held a joint central committee meeting in

Howrah Howrah (; ; alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River, opposite to its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively ...

on 23 June, in which the two parties merged. Ruiker and Leela Roy did however mobilize their followers and reconstituted themselves as a separate party. In the 1952 general elections, the Electoral Commission let the Ruikar-led party contest as 'Forward Bloc (Ruikar)' and the other AIFB group as 'Forward Bloc (Marxist)'. FB(R) contested six

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

seats, 3 in

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

, 1 in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

and 2 in

. The elections resulted in a humiliating defeat for Ruikar's party. In total the six candidates got 133 936 votes.Bose, K., ''Forward Bloc'', Madras: Tamil Nadu Academy of Political Science, 1988. In the West Bengal legislative assembly election the party was a member of the

People's United Socialist Front The People's United Socialist Front was an electoral alliance in West Bengal, India, formed ahead of the 1952 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election. The front was composed of the Socialist Party, the Forward Bloc (Ruikar) and the Revolutionary ...

, together with 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 ...

and the

Revolutionary Communist Party of India (Tagore) The Revolutionary Communist Party of India, also known as RCPI (Tagore), was a political party in India, led by Saumyendranath Tagore. RCPI (Tagore) emerged from a split in the Revolutionary Communist Party of India in 1948. RCPI (Tagore) had a ...

. The party contested 32 assembly seats, and won two (the only two PUSF to win any seats). The elected MLAs of the party were Atindra Nath Bose from

Asansol Asansol is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the second largest city in West Bengal. It is the 33rd largest urban agglomeration in India by population. Asansol is the district headquarters of Paschim Bardhaman district. Accordi ...

and Biren Roy from

Behala Behala is a locality of South West Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Behala is a part of Kolkata Municipal Corporation area. It is broadly spread across Ward Numbers: 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, ...

.List Of Political Parties
The following year the party was disbanded and merged into

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 ...

References

{{reflist Defunct political parties in India Political parties established in 1948 1948 establishments in India Political parties disestablished in 1951 1951 disestablishments in India