The history of Split in the Congress Party and the role of Gandhiji
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm2022.v02.n01.009Keywords:
Indian National Congress, Mahatma Gandhi, political splits, factionalism, Indian independence movementAbstract
The Indian National Congress (INC), despite its foundational role in India's freedom struggle, has experienced numerous debilitating splits throughout its history. This article examines the major schisms—from the Moderates-Extremists division of 1907 to the Indira-Syndicate split of 1969 and the subsequent fragmentation of 1978—with particular focus on the paradoxical role of Mahatma Gandhi. Drawing exclusively on pre-2022 historical sources, the article argues that while Gandhi was the supreme unifier who transformed the Congress into a mass movement, his method of maintaining organizational cohesion through tactical compromise and charismatic authority inadvertently embedded structural weaknesses into the party. Gandhi prioritized unity over ideological clarity, accommodating Swarajists, socialists, and conservatives within a single umbrella. This created a "catch-all party" held together by personal loyalty to the Mahatma rather than shared principles. After his assassination in 1948, the absence of comparable moral authority led to increasing factionalism, culminating in the cataclysmic split of 1969. The article concludes that the Congress's post-independence fragmentation was not a betrayal of Gandhian ideals but their logical, unintended consequence—a party built for opposition proved structurally incapable of sustained governance.
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