Swatantra Party
The Swatantra party ( Skt. svatantra "free, independent, independent") was in the years 1959-1974 a political opposition party, the liberal- conservative right-wing in India.
Foundation, electoral success, political program
Swatantra was founded in 1959 as a splinter group of the ruling Congress party. Politicians C. Rajagopalachari (1878-1972), Mohandas K. Gandhi's long-time employee and first Indian Governor-General, as well as NG Ranga (1900-1965) and MR Masani (1905-1998), and the conservative Hindus to Rajagopalachari, the liberal bourgeoisie Masanis represented the agrarian wing of the movement of Ranga, the party called to life. On the part of the previous administration of British India met the designer of the Indian unit of state VP Menon added.
As a coalition of urban big business, rural aristocracy and land, she succeeded in the elections of 1962, 1967 and 1971/2, despite the electoral system that favored the smaller groupings, 18 and 44 and 8 seats in the Indian lower house ( Lok Sabha ) to gain and thus temporarily to become the second largest force after the Indian National Congress. Even in the states of Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Orissa, it was at the simultaneous elections to the main opposition party.
Swatantra was thus in the peak of their activity, the leading secular party of the right-wing opposition, which had a coherent overall program against the socialist course initiated by Nehru, the Congress party and the government established by it.
Market economy versus state socialism
Swatantra opposed the increasing central planning and the five-year plans on the Soviet model, the nationalization of key industries, the doctrine of non-alignment, the monopolization and foreclosure of certain imports for the purpose of self-sufficiency (Licence - Permit Raj ) and the collectivisation of agriculture as the Congress Party decision of Avadi was required in 1955. She advocated investment from the West and insisted that her party's program is based on the Godesberg Program of the SPD. According to European understanding Swatantra was more attributable to the liberal- democratic spectrum in program and personnel against it. In the area of foreign and social policy their program remained unclear.
Through their electoral success harassed, distracted Nehru, especially on the issue of land reform, and corrected the left-hand twist of the Congress Party.
" Prince Party" and decline
In the following years Swatantra was increasingly seen as a lobbying the princes, and the industrialists, although the party less human and financial support from this side was awarded as the Congress Party itself; her partially landslide success - the majority vote was their real share of votes appear smaller than it really was - led, however 1970/71, ironically, to the fact that the big government party as a tit for tat removed the rights enshrined in the Constitution prince privileges and arresting the members of parliament of Swatantra (State of Emergency, the emergency government of Indira Gandhi ); even then be Swatantra sat down opposite the almighty Prime Minister against the nationalization of the banks.
After the death of its founder and conductor Rajagopalachari at the age of 94 years (1972 ) the party in 1974 went from financial weakness - an adequate state funding of political parties was always on their agenda - and because of organizational and personnel shortcomings in a multi-party grouping (BKD, Bharantiya Kranti Dal ). Although it was until the very end as a hotbed of high moral and intellectual standards, it lacked, however attractive to the mass of voters. Your coalition politics at the state level, such as with the militant nationalist January Sangh or the open communal Hindu Mahasabha, was temporarily doubts about the course of the party to pay.