Socialism in India
Socialism in India is a political movement founded early in the 20th century, as a part of the broader movement to gain Indian independence from colonial rule. The movement grew quickly in popularity as it espoused the causes of India's farmers and labourers against the zamindars, the princely class and the landed gentry. After independence and until the early 1990s, socialism shaped some economic and social policies of the Indian government, although they mostly followed the principles of dirigisme.[1][2] After this period, India moved towards a more market-based economy.
Political parties[edit]
At the 1931 Karachi session of the Indian National Congress, socialist pattern of development was set as the goal for India. Through the 1955 Avadi Resolution of the Indian National Congress, a socialistic pattern of development was presented as the goal of the party. A year later, the Indian parliament adopted 'socialistic pattern of development' as official policy, a policy that came to include land reforms and regulations of industries.[18] The word socialist was added to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution by the 42nd amendment act of 1976, during the Emergency. It implies social and economic equality. Social equality in this context means the absence of discrimination on the grounds only of caste, colour, creed, sex, religion, or language. Under social equality, everyone has equal status and opportunities. Economic equality in this context means that the government will endeavour to make the distribution of wealth more equal and provide a decent standard of living for all.[19]
Communists were also active in the Indian independence movement and have played a significant role in India's political life, although they are fragmented into a multitude of different parties. Communist parties represented in parliament are: (statistics from 2019 General Elections) Communist Party of India (Marxist) (3 seats in the Lok Sabha), the Communist Party of India (2 seats), the Revolutionary Socialist Party (1 seat).[20]
Aside from the Congress and the Left Front, there are other socialist parties active in India, notably the Samajwadi Party, which emerged from the Janata Dal, formed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and Union Defence Minister and now led by his son Akhilesh Yadav, also a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. It has 3 seats in the 17th Lok Sabha.[21]