Swaraj Party: A Bold Stride Towards India’s Freedom (1923)
Introduction
The Swaraj Party was founded in 1923, as part of the intense political activity in India’s freedom movement. It came to prominence with the political situation that Mahatma Gandhi’s decision to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement created after the Chauri Chaura incident of 1922. He thereby created divisions within the Indian National Congress leadership, with some of them urging a more positive role from inside the legislative councils. Under the leadership of Chittaranjan Das (C. R. Das) and Motilal Nehru, there came the Swaraj Party as an organ through which those who believed in working with the British colonial government’s legislative structure to demand Swaraj or self-governance could work.
This paper seeks to trace the rise and development and significance of the Swaraj Party within the larger context of India’s freedom movement, critically examining the party’s involvement in the politics of freedom and its achievement.
Historical Context of the Swaraj Party
The Non-Cooperation Movement (1920–1922) was one of Gandhi’s earliest mass movements to seek self-rule (Swaraj) through non-violent civil disobedience. These were the first time peasants, laborers, and students formed the largest masses of the movement – boycotting British institutions and goods. However, after violent incidents that took place at Chauri Chaura in 1922 – where a mob had set fire to a police station, killing 22 policemen – Gandhi suddenly put an end to the movement. This led to disappointment amongst many Congress leaders, for whom the new decision seemed to be a setback in momentum toward Swaraj.
But by now, leaders like Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru started questioning the decision of all-round non-cooperation by Gandhi and began to advocate more active involvement in the British system. They argued that it could become the best way to challenge colonial authority and push reforms through law-making bodies. The faction of Congress led by this faction became known as the “Pro-Changers”, in sharp contrast to the “No-Changers” who supported Gandhi’s non-cooperation policy.
Formation of Swaraj Party
At the Gaya session of the Indian National Congress in December 1922, Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru placed their opinion on the decision of contesting the elections to the legislative councils. Their resolution was not passed by the Congress majority, and hence they planned to form a separate political party. It was C.R. who finally founded the Swaraj Party in January 1923. As president, Das led Motilal Nehru as secretary. The party’s main objective was to join the legislative councils, weaken the working of the government from within, and demand reforms leading to self-rule.
The Swaraj Party had goals which were as follows:
To break down the legislative machinery of the government from within.
To resist an unrighteous law and measure
To obtain further constitutional changes and create a basis for selfrule in India .
Ideological differences within the Congress
Therefore, the formation of the Swaraj Party revealed to some extent important ideological differences within the Congress. And while the No-Changers, led by Gandhi and his professed belief in the strategy of noncooperation and constructive programs-as for example khadi, an end to untouchability, or the village industries-stressed legislative action, the Pro-Changers believed legislative councils could be instruments for nationalist causes, block undesirable measures, and force Britain to introduce reforms.
The Swarajists, on the other hand, would not compromise on the big objective of Swaraj; entry into the councils, therefore, had been regarded as mere tactical maneuver towards the achievement of Swaraj. It neither opposed Gandhi’s wider principle of non-violence nor of civil disobedience but aimed at supplementing these by constitutional measures.
Performance in Elections and Role in Legislative Councils
The Swaraj Party had a very good election performance in the elections to the Central Legislative Assembly and the Provincial Legislative Councils of the year 1923. They managed to secure a majority of the seats in Bengal, Bombay, and the Central Provinces. They formed the biggest opposition team in the Central Legislative Assembly and were also able to stop several resolutions by the government. Some of these were budgetary proposals that were rejected.
The Swarajists acted as a body in the councils and proved to be a responsible and effective opposition. Some of the key successes amidst this include the following:
The defeat of the Public Safety Bill and the Trade Disputes Bill, both of which were themselves repressive measures initiated by the British government.
Forcing the colonial administration to change several financial proposals that demonstrated growing nationalist representation in legislative councils.
Advocate constantly for more Indians in the government and demand Swaraj through legislation resolutions.
Despite such successes, the Swarajists had to contend with an array of problems. They were frequently frustrated by the limited powers conferred on elected members under the legislative structure of the colonial government. Moreover, there were internal conflicts within the Swaraj Party in terms of strategy. Views gradually diverged on whether to cross the divide to the government on matters of common interest, and some party leaders began to advocate policies that brought an anemic oppositionism to the Swaraj Party.
Decline of the Swaraj Party
The death of C.R. Das in 1925 proved to be a devastating blow to the Swaraj Party. He had been its primary ideologue and also acquired a charismatic personality to keep the different groups within the party well aligned. The fissures within the party became more virulent after his death. Motilal Nehru still headed the party but his efforts to retain its revolutionary zest did not materialize initially.
Besides, Indian politics was changing. After the late 1920s, the freedom movement began to focus again on mass mobilization and civil disobedience. Gandhi’s decision to begin the Salt Satyagraha in 1930 heralded a new phase in mass protests against British rule and marked the end of the Legislative approach that the Swaraj Party had wanted and striven so long for.
In 1927, the British government established the Simon Commission and asked it to review the political situation of India and suggest constitutional reforms. Indian National Congress boycotted the Commission along with other political groups which also included the Swarajists because it had not been represented by Indians. This became a turning point: the Congress started going away from council politics and adopting more confrontational ways.
By 1930 the Swaraj Party had almost melted into thin air as an independent political party. Most of its leaders like Motilal Nehru, returned back to the Congress who were gaining their leading role in the freedom movement under Gandhi’s leadership.
Analysis of the Swaraj Party
Mixed up is the assessment of the contribution of the Swaraj Party to the Indian Independence Movement. The party was able to show that legislative opposition was a possible means for the opposition of the rule of the Britishers. This made them necessarily present in the legislative councils, forcing the colonial government to reconsider several of its policies, and while presenting an obstructionist tack, indicated the limitations to the British constitutional framework in India.
Regarding the Swaraj Party, its exercise was limited to structural boundaries of legislative councils that remained bossed by the British appointed executive. It could not implement any concrete constitutional amendments nor bring about any meaningful transformation of the government’s Indian self-governance policy. Moreover, internal conflict within the party, especially after the death of C.R. Das, went against the objective.
Nonetheless, the Swaraj Party’s legacy must not be discounted. Its leadership and, most of all Motilal Nehru, played a very significant role in determining the ultimate direction of the Congress Party. It was an immediate consequence of the Swarajists’ call for constitutional reforms when, in 1928, Motilal Nehru drew up, together with many others, the Nehru Report which put forward the outline of a plan for Indian self-government. Dominion status for India was what the report suggested, and this eventually became full independence.
Legislative politics experience also helped the Swarajists prepare the generation of leaders who were to lead the Indian parliamentary democracy after independence. The advocacy of constitutional reforms, parliamentary opposition, and participation in electors helped in the development of democratic institutions in post-independence India.
Conclusion:-
The Swaraj Party was an important phase of the Indian independence movement, standing for contradictory trends and debates within the leadership of nationalism concerning the best means of achieving self-rule. For all its existence as a political party, the impact of the party’s efforts on the development of parliamentary opposition, constitutional changes, and legislative participation was dramatic. It would be fruitful to evaluate the triumphs and failures of the Swaraj Party in order to understand the complexities of the Indian freedom struggle and diverse strategies adopted by its leaders.
Broadly considered, while the Swaraj Party was indulging in contesting elections and forming governments in provinces under constitutional methods of engaging the colonial government, mass movements and non-violent resistance were led by Gandhi. Together, they made the Indian independence movement a success, which in turn ended British rule in 1947.
Also Read:- Indian Council Act, 1909: The Morley-Minto Reforms ( Compromise of Power )