Rift in Cong gives birth to some new political parties

Jaipur: Even before the first Lok Sabha elections in the country, a period of political manoeuvring had started. Many veteran leaders, who were associated with Congress during freedom movement, left and formed new political outfits to compete with Congress in polls. It can be said that trend of rebellion of leaders from parties had started with advent of democracy in the country.

Among the veteran Congress leaders, JB Kripalani formed Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party, while Ram Manohar Lohia and Jayprakash Narayan laid the foundation of Socialist Party.

After independence, PM Nehru had appointed 15 veterans from different sections of the society as ministers in first Union Cabinet. Among these Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee founded Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar set up Scheduled Caste Federation. In the first LS polls, the Left, abandoning armed struggle in Telangana, contested 49 seats, while Bolshevik Party and Zamindar Party ran independently. Despite Nehru’s charismatic influence, neither veteran Congress leaders nor figures like Mookerjee and Ambedkar posed significant electoral challenges.