Swaraj Party- Founders of Congress Khilafat Swaraj Party, UPSC PDF

What is Swaraj Party?

A political party was established on 1st January 1923 with an aim of attaining self-rule. The literary meaning of the term “Swaraj” decodes the primary objective of the political party. The prominent leaders of the Swaraj party were Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru. Following the consequences of the Chauri-Chaura movement, the Non-Cooperation movement was withdrawn by Mahatma Gandhi. This led to a difference of opinion and dissent among the Congress members.

There were some members who desired the continuation of the Non-Cooperation Movement. On the other hand, the other leaders wanted to enter the legislative council and clog the British rule from within. C.R Das initiated the legislative council and presented the proposal in Gaya. However, the proposal was rejected. They disbanded the Congress party which led to the formation of the Swaraj Party. These incidents led to the formation of the Swaraj Party.

Swaraj Party Founders

The members of the swaraj party included prominent leaders, with the primary objective of attaining self-rule, the right to frame Indian constitution. They assented to contest elections as a separate party within Congress. They had the aim of attaining absolute provincial autonomy. The main leaders of the Swaraj Party included leaving the Congress Party and went to form Swaraj Party. This step was fuelled by the rejection of the proposal of entering into the legislative council. The prominent founders of the Swaraj Party are as listed below-

• Chittaranjan Das
• Motilal Nehru

History and Formation of Swaraj Party

The Swaraj Party was formed by a sequence of events over the years. Many leaders contributed to establishing their own rule in the country.

• Gandhiji took back the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1922 post the incident happened in Chauri Chaura.
• C R Das, the session’s president, pushed a proposal to join the legislatures, which got defeated during the Gaya session of congress 1922.

Influential Swaraj Party Members

The leaders of Swaraj party greatly influenced and helped develop self-rule in the country. Some of the renowned members of the party included the following.

• Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar
• Motilal Nehru
• Chittaranjan Das
• Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
• N C Kelkar
• Subhas Chandra Bose
• Vithalbhai Patel.

Importance of Congress Khilafat Swaraj Party

The Swaraj Party wanted to stop the Government and produce halts on each action. They raised their voices in the Legislative Assembly about their resentments and desires, boycotting all Government-related receptions and authorized functions.

• Pro-changers and no-changers, along with Mahatma Gandhi, put up a united action to obtain amendments from the Government.
• Swarajists got the right to contest elections within Congress as an individual group.
• In 1923, Swaraj Party won 42 out of 104 seats in the Central Legislature.

Aim and Objective of Swaraj Party

Swaraj party’s main purpose was to inquire about the new Central Legislative Assembly elections in 1923. Another objective was to disturb and obstruct the British Raj in India with anti-Government rage among the council sections. The goals of the Swaraj Party were:

• Achieving self-rule or Swarajya.
• Getting the control to draft a constitution.
• Obtaining power over the administration.
• Gaining status of sovereignty.
• Bringing complete regional independence.
• Giving individuals the right to have authority over the machinery of the Government.
• Manage the municipal and provincial bodies.
• Categorize farming and industrial labour.
• Indulge in the productive programs held by Congress.
• Owning a tool or agency to advertise internationally.
• Launching a partnership with Asian countries to encourage trade.

Accomplishments and Contribution of Swaraj Party

The significant achievements of the Swaraj Party must be addressed. They defeated the Public Safety Bill in 1928. The Swarajist party gave passionate speeches on civil freedom and self-rule in the Assembly.

• The leading member who became the speaker of the Central Legislative Assembly in 1925 was Swarajist Vithalbhai Patel.
• They were able to disclose the drawbacks of the reforms by Montagu-Chelmsford.
• The party even got higher votes than the Government in budgetary allocation issues.

Simon Commission, No Changers and Pro Changers

Simon commission started in 1928. Several Indians were outraged by the thought of a British committee creating proposals for the Indian constitution without involving or consulting any Indian associate. The no changers and pro changers of the party had the given responsibilities.

Madras Regional Swarajya Party

The establishment of the Madras Regional Swarajya Party took place in 1923. It was headed by S. Srinivasa Iyengar and S. Satyamurti. It was considered the only biggest party during the elections of the Assembly between 1926 and 1934 but denied forming the regional government.

Madras Provincial Swarajya Party – Election Performance

The Madras Party participated in elections from 1923 to 1934 and won a maximum of 98 seats in the Madras Assembly. In 1930, they did not participate in the elections due to Civil Disobedience Movement.

Drawbacks of Swaraj Party

The decline of the swaraj party had major reasons that a few Swarajists acknowledged that in the track of resisting all the government measures, they also led the way to obstruct the benefits of the society. They could not accomplish the aim of continuously obstructing British rule. They were highly dependent on newspapers for communication. The demise of C.R Das made a huge loss for the party. Their policies had major gaps and loopholes.

• The internal conflict also became a reason for the decline of the swaraj party. There was segregation between responsivists and non-responsivists.
• The non-responsivists disbanded the Swaraj Party.
• The Swarajists could not reject the benefits they received after joining the council, this weakened the Swaraj party.
• There is a surge in communal politics, that further weakened the party.
• Later the Swaraj Party joined Congress for acquiring absolute independence.

Decline of Swaraj Party

The initial willingness of Swaraj Party in 1924 became feeble. Between 1925-1927, there was a Swarajists decline due to discouragement. The members of Swaraj Party could not follow the approach of ‘constant, persistent regular interference’.

• Another primary reason for the party’s weakening was the demise of C R Das in 1925.
• New political ideas of the Swaraj Party spread openly to all sections of Indian society when Lord Birkenhead challenged them to create a constitution acceptable to everyone and also due to the announcement of the Simon Commission in 1927.
• The Congress of Calcutta decided to proclaim complete independence as its intent if the British did not accept the Nehru Report by 31 December 1929.
• There were divisions among Swarajists internally, separating them into responsivist and non-responsivist.
• The responsivist (M M Malaviya, N C Kelkar, Lala Lajpat Rai) united with the government and controlled the offices, whereas the non-responsivist (like Motilal Nehru) exited from legislatures in 1926.
• The Swaraj party did not function well in the 1926 elections due to extreme chaos.
• The support of several party members was lost as the party did not assist the peasant causality in Bengal.
• In 1935, the party finally joined the Congress.

Swaraj Party UPSC

The formation of Swaraj Party is an essential part of Modern Indian History that must be understood and learned well for the UPSC exam. Theoretical questions can be asked in UPSC Prelims regarding the Swaraj Party.

Candidates can also refer to the entire UPSC syllabus before preparing for the upcoming exam. The PDF notes will be helpful as they will guide students on what questions can be put up in the Prelims and Mains exam.