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 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 ...

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 ...

in the following year. The Andhra unit of the party, however, revived the old party under the name "Praja Party" and lasted for a few more years.

History

In June 1951

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 ...

dissidents led by J. B. Kripalani founded the KMPP. Two of its leaders,

Prafulla Chandra Ghosh Prafulla Chandra Ghosh (24 December 1891 – 18 December 1983) was the first Premier of West Bengal, India from 15 August 1947 to 14 August 1948. He also served as the Chief Minister of West Bengal in the "Progressive Democratic Alliance Fron ...

and

Tanguturi Prakasam Tanguturi Prakasam popularly known as Prakasam Pantulu (23 August 1872 – 20 May 1957), was an Indian jurist, political leader, social reformer, and anti-colonial nationalist who served as the Premier of the Madras Presidency. Prakasam subseq ...

, had been chief ministers of

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 of

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 ...

respectively. It contested the

1951–52 Indian general election General elections were held in India between 25 October 1951 and 21 February 1952, the first national elections after India attained independence in 1947. Voters elected 489 members of the first Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of ...

, the first such polls in India. The party nominated candidates in 145 constituencies across sixteen states, but won only ten seats, six candidates being elected from

Madras state Madras State was a state in the Indian Republic, which was in existence during the mid-20th century as a successor to the Madras Presidency of British India. The state came into existence on 26 January 1950 when the Constitution of India was ad ...

, and one each from Mysore state,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

, and

Vindhya Pradesh Vindhya Pradesh was a former state of India. It was created in 1948 as Union of Baghelkhand and Bundelkhand States from the territories of the princely states in the eastern portion of the former Central India Agency. It was named as Vindhya P ...

, getting 5.8% of the votes. Kripalani himself lost from the (now defunct) Faizabad District (North West) constituency, but his wife, Sucheta Kripalani, was elected from

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. It won 77 seats in the State legislative assemblies. In September 1952 it merged with the Socialist Party to form the Praja Socialist Party.Chandra, Bipan & others (2000). ''India after Independence 1947-2000'', New Delhi:Penguin Books, , p.201 In 1953, the

Andhra State Andhra State (IAST: ; ), created in 1953, was the official name of the State of Andhra Pradesh until 1956. The state was formed from Telugu-speaking districts of the erstwhile Madras State, which form two distinct cultural regions – Rayalas ...

was separated from Madras, and Prakasam was offered Chief Ministership of the state by Indian National Congress. He split from the Praja Socialist Party and revived the old party under the name "Praja Party". In the 1955 election, Congress, the Praja Party, and Krishikar Lok Party (another splinter group of the original Praja Party) formed a united front against the Communists and won the majority.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * {{Authority control Political parties established in 1951 Defunct socialist parties in India Indian National Congress breakaway groups 1951 establishments in India Political parties disestablished in 1952

History

See also

Notes

Bibliography