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waraj Party

The Swaraj Party, later known as the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party, was a political organization that fought for greater political and self-government freedom for the Indian people from the British Raj after the National Congress' annual conference in Gaya, India, in December 1922.

Swaraj Party

Introduction

• The Swaraj Party, later known as the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party, was a political organization that fought for greater political and self-government freedom for the Indian people from the British Raj after the National Congress' annual conference in Gaya, India, in December 1922.

Formation

• The Congress Party's early leaders offered an impressive number of logical contradictions in response to the suspension of the non-cooperation movement in 1922.
• While some preferred to continue their non-cooperation, others wanted to end the boycott of the legislature and participate in elections.
• They used to be called "no-changers," but they later changed their name to "pro-changers."
• A resolution to enter the legislature was moved but rejected by C R Das, who presided over the Congress's Gaya session in 1922.
• Das established the Congress-Khilafat Swarajaya Party with the assistance of other influential figures, and Nehru served as both one of the party's secretaries and its president.

Objectives of Swaraj party

• The goals of the Swaraj Party, also known as the Congress-Khilafat Swarajya Party, were:
• Obtaining dominion status as soon as possible
• Gaining the ability to create a constitution and choosing the machinery and systems that best reflect the needs of the nation and the wisdom of the people
• setting up a system of administrative control
• Achieving complete provincial autonomy
• Achieving Swarajya (self-rule)
• Gaining access to the freedom to manage the current governmental structure and system
• Coordinating both industrial and agricultural labor
• Regulating local and municipal organizations

• Having a foreign propaganda organization
• forming an association of Asian nations to advance trade and business
• Participating in Congress's constructive programs

Methods

• Their avowed desire to undermine the reforms from within gave the Swarajists' politics a peculiar distinction.
• The Swarajists intended to undermine the reputation of the councils that had stifled national self-assertion and respect with their tactics of opposition to all laws sponsored by the government.
• On the destructive side, the Swarajists' tactics prioritized rejecting proposals coming from the bureaucracy and the votable portions of budgets.
• On the constructive side, they sought to move resolutions calculated to promote a healthy national life and displacement of bureaucracy

Works and Achievements of Swaraj Party

• The Swarajists emerged as the single largest party in the Central Assembly, Bombay, and Bengal Councils, while their number in the U.P. Council was not insignificant in 1923. 
• The Swarajists emerged as the single largest party in the Central Assembly, Bombay, and Bengal Councils, while their representation in the U.P. Council was not insignificant in 1923.
• The Swarajists' electoral victory consolidated their position in the congress against the No Changers.
• The Swarajists were crucial in maintaining the anti-British protest movement during this time, which was devoid of widespread political activity.
• They practically eliminated any chance the British emperors had of having their policies and proposals approved by the legislatures.
• For instance, the government put forth a bill in the legislative assembly in 1928 that would have allowed it to expel foreigners who backed India's fight for independence. The proposal was rejected. The president of the assembly, Vithalbhai Patel, refused to permit the government to reintroduce this bill.

• The Montagu-Chelmsford reforms were exposed by the Swarajists.
• In the Assembly, they delivered ferocious speeches on civil liberties and self-rule.
• The Legislative Assembly witnessed numerous victories for the Swarajists during the period 1924–1925.
• In this case, they were successful in having the Budget thrown out, which made the government rely on its certification authority.
• To further expose the wrongdoing of the foreign government, they turned to adjournment motions and awkward questions.

Decline of Swaraj Party

• In the years 1925–1927, the Swarajists' initial fervor started to wane, which led to their eventual demoralization and decline.
• The Swarajists failed to carry out their strategy of "constant, continuous uniform obstruction" within the legislatures.
• The party was further weakened by C R Das's passing in 1925.
• New political horizons were opened in the nation with the announcement of the Simon Commission in the final months of 1927 and Lord Birkenhead's challenge to Indians to draft a constitution that would be acceptable to all facets of society.
• In case the British Government did not accept the Nehru Report by December 31, 1929, the Calcutta Congress of 1928 decided that Congress would declare complete independence as its objective.
• The Council Entry program thus took a back seat and lost significance in the new political environment.

• Other Reasons for Decline
• Rising Communal Politics
• It was a challenging situation because of the ongoing animosity between Hindus and Muslims and the presence of reactionary elements from both communities within the party that purported to be secular.
• Hindus believed that Congress posed a threat to their interests.
• The Swarajist position was weakened by the Hindu Mahasabha's activities.
• The Muslim rift with the Congress widened to the point where its former Muslim members ran in elections not as Swarajists but as Muslims.

• Lure of Office
• Another factor in the decline of the Swarajists turned out to be the allure of office.
• By entering councils with the stated intention of mounting fierce resistance to the bureaucracy, they launched their careers with a bang.
• However, cooperation quickly replaced the spirit of resistance.

• Internal Divisions
• The Swaraj Party was a divided house that could not stand.
• Its credibility was being undermined by disagreements between the parties and mistrust.
• Following their denial of tickets, some Swarajists declared their candidacy as independents.
• The responsivists and the non-responsivists were two divisions that existed within the Swarajist movement.
• While the non-responsivists (Motilal Nehru) withdrew from legislatures in 1926, the responsivists (M. M. Malaviya, Lala Lajpat Rai, and N. C. Kelkar) wanted to work with the government and hold office.

The Swaraj Party was largely successful in accomplishing its objectives during that trying time, despite its decline. The activities of the Swarajists infused life into a drab political environment. Their obstructive strategies embarrassed the government, but the parliamentary fights of the time represent a brilliant chapter in the history of parliamentary politics.