Ram Manohar

UNIT 9 RAM MANOHAR LOHIYA: Lohiya: Socialist

Democracy
SOCIALIST DEMOCRACY*
Structure
9.0 Objectives
9.1 Introduction
9.1.1 His Life
9.1.2 His Writings
9.1.3 His Political Thought
9.2 Redefining Socialism
9.2.1 Sapta Kranti (Seven Revolutions)
9.2.2 New Ideology or Doctrine of Socialism
9.3 Socialist Democracy
9.3.1 Democracy and Socialism
9.4 Let Us Sum Up
9.5 References
9.6 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

9.0 OBJECTIVES
This unit deals with one of the important Indian socialist thinkers – Ram Manohar
Lohiya and his idea of Socialist Democracy. The main objective of this unit is to
get acquainted with him and to understand his important ideas, particularly
focusing his thoughts on Socialist Democracy. Therefore, after reading this unit,
you will be able to:
 understand Ram Manohar Lohiya and his contribution to Indian socialist
thought
 understand his unique contribution in the sense of redefining socialism and
 understand his idea of Socialist Democracy

*
Dr Bipasha Rosy Lakra, Assistant Professor, Departmen of Political Science, JMC, University of
Delhi

127
BLOCK IV
Imaginaries of the 9.1 INTRODUCTION
Nation and the World
Ram Manohar Lohiya (1910-1967) was a prominent leader, and considered by
many as the most original thinker of the socialist movement in India. He was an
activist in the Indian national movement for independence and a socialist political
leader. Before understanding his thought, it is necessary to know about his life
and work.

9.1.1 His Life

Ram Manohar Lohiya was born on March 23, 1910 in a middle class merchant
family at Akbarpur, which is currently a part of the state of Uttar Pradesh. His
father, Heera Lal Lohiya, was a freedom fighter and a staunch follower of
Mahatma Gandhi. His mother, Chanda, died in 1912 when he was very young. He
became familiarized with India’s national movement for independence at an early
age by his father through the various protest assembles.
Lohiya received his education in various cities including Bombay, Banaras, and
Calcutta. He succeeded the matriculation examination in first class in 1925. He
joined the Vidyasagar College in Calcutta after completion of a two-year course at
Banaras University. In the year 1929, he passed the Honours examination in
English literature. He was attracted towards political agitation, even during his
student days. For example, he was just ten-years old when he organized a student
strike in 1920 on the death of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak. He went to
Germany for higher studies in 1929. When he arrived in Berlin, he was very
young, just over 19 years, with a B.A. degree from the University of Calcutta and
a nationalist fervor imbibed from his family. He obtained Ph.D. in Economics
from Frederick William University (today’s Humboldt University of Berlin). He
wrote his Ph.D. thesis on the topic of The Salt Taxation in India. This was an
important issue which led to Gandhi’s historical march to Dandi. He focused on
Gandhi’s socio-economic theory. He submitted his thesis in 1933.
His proficiency in German language was excellent. Even decades later, he wrote
letters in German with ease and conversed with Albert Einstein in German during
his visit to the U.S. in 1951. In Germany he also came into contact with the
German socialist intellectuals and political workers. The intellectual background
and political conditions in Germany in that period immensely influenced the
thinking of Lohiya. He was influenced by the intellectual ferment in the
university, the cultural atmosphere of Berlin and the political situation in
Germany – all of which had a lasting impact on his future thoughts and actions.
He maintained his interest in German politics even while in the Congress Socialist
Party (CSP), and wrote a series of commentaries on the rise of Nazism and
Europe’s march towards a world war. The choice of Germany reflected Lohiya’s
dislike in joining any university in Britain – at that time the choice of most
Indians aspiring for a place in the colonial administration. Lohiya’s education in
Berlin formed a significant part in his ideological evolution. He left Berlin with
definite leanings towards socialism. The experience in Berlin widened his
128 understanding and perception.
When he returned to India in 1933, he got fully involved in the national Ram Manohar
Lohiya: Socialist
movement led by the Indian National Congress (henceforth the Congress). He Democracy
joined the socialist movement as one of the founders of the CSP. He was
considered as one of its pillars. Lohiya and other leaders like Acharya Narendra
Dev, Jaya Prakash Narayan, Achyut Patwardhan, Ashok Mehta, and Minoo
Masani formed CSP in 1934. These leaders attempted to build a nation for the
majority toiling people. They tried to strengthen the national movement by
organizing workers and peasants. CSP had declared socialism as its objective. It
stated that only Marxism could guide the anti-imperialist forces to their destiny,
and thus emphasized on democratizing the organizational structure of the
Congress. Lohiya actively participated in the national movement, and played an
important role in the underground Quit India Movement of 1942, and also went to
jail several times for his activism.
After independence, the CSP got separated from the Congress. The Socialist Party
(Praja Socialist Party after 1952) became a major opposition party in post-
independence India. At this point, Lohiya emerged as its first rank leader. He
played a key role in the formation of it. He was elected as General Secretary of
the new party in 1953. In 1955, the socialists gathered at Hyderabad and a new
Socialist Party of India was established under the chairmanship of Lohiya. After
1964 it became Samyukta Socialist Party. Under Lohiya’s leadership his party
adopted the policy of active opposition to the Congress government. It organized
several protests and civil disobedience campaigns against policies of the
government. However, the party had very little success in elections. Lohiya
himself succeeded in getting elected to the Lok Sabha only in 1963. Before the
general elections of 1967, he tried to unite all the opposition parties against the
Congress. This new strategy became successful. However, Lohiya did not live to
build on it. He died in 1967 in New Delhi. He was unmarried. He left behind no
family, and no property. However, he inspired many with his ideas. Lohiya led
several people’s movements, and he was jailed on numerous occasions during the
colonial period and after independence. He visited several countries and
participated in meetings of the Socialist International and the World Peace
Council.

9.1.2 His Writings

Lohiya was not only a socialist leader but also a profound thinker. He manifested
his ideas through his writings. He was a prolific writer. His writings consisted of
articles or sometimes a series of articles. Most of these were revised scripts of the
lectures that he had delivered at various places. These essays were then compiled
together in the form of books. The most important of such collections of Lohiya’s
writings is Marx, Gandhi and Socialism (1963). Some of his other such books are
The Third Camp in World Affairs (1951), Wheel of History (1955), Will to Power
and Other Writings (1956), Guilty Men of India’s Partition (1960), The Caste
System (1963), and Interval During Politics (1965).
His ideas were not limited to politics. He took serious interest in issues related to
129
culture, economy, religion, and science and technology. He reflected not merely
BLOCK IV on the present, but also on the distant past and future. He attempted to create
Imaginaries of the
Nation and the World awareness among the people by writing articles and pamphlets. He utilized his
time by writing booklets, pamphlets and articles such as How to establish an
Independent Government, I am Free’, Prepare for the Revolution, and Brave
Fighters March Forward. He published the journal Do or Die during this period.
He had also written another scholarly article Economics after Marx while he was
underground. He was not only one of the founder members of the CSP, but also
an editor of its mouthpiece Congress Socialist. He edited the first thirteen issues
of it.

9.1.3 His Political Thought

One of the important features of Lohiya’s political thought was that he never
accepted any of the given ideologies in totality. It was his ambitious attempt to
answer a large range of questions. For example, he was influenced both by
Marxism and Gandhism; but he also criticized both of these ideologies. He never
followed any ideology unthinkingly. He studied and analyzed ideas deeply and
also questioned them. Whenever he found problems with any ism, he criticized it.
Another important feature of Lohiya’s political thought was that he never
believed in violence. He was non-violent by nature as well as training. He refuses
destructive tendencies. He never lost endurance. He believed that non-violence
was not a quality for cowardice. He followed what he reached. In his letter to
Mahatma Gandhi, he had elaborated the concept of non-violence in following
words, “Non-violent collective action is among the rarest and most precious gifts
received by mankind in all history”.
Lohiya criticized capitalism. He studied the unfair nature of capitalism and how
the British colonial rule was responsible for exploitation of the Indian people
while staying in India. He entered the nationalist movement and joined the
struggle against British imperialism in 1934 as a Congress Socialist. In 1936, he
was selected by Jawaharlal Nehru as the secretary of the Foreign Affairs
Department of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) which was the highest
body of the Congress Party. His selection was recognition of his talents and his
wide knowledge of international affairs. As Foreign Secretary of the Congress, he
played an important role in laying the foundations of the foreign policy of India.
He gave up that responsibility in 1938, and started to develop his own political
standpoint by critically examining positions held by the Gandhian leadership of
the Congress and the Communists who had poured into the CSP. He was arrested
in 1940, and was sentenced to a jail term of two years for delivering anti-war
speeches. During the Second World War, he was of the opinion that India should
not give any support to the British Rule. He advocated complete non-cooperation.
Lohiya was aware of the issues faced by the overseas Indians, and he told the
Indian people about their deplorable conditions. He had also drawn the attention
of the world towards the repression of civil liberties in India and other countries.
Lohiya lived a short and passionate life of thought and action. Recently there has
130 been a significant revival of interest in Lohiya among people’s movements and
struggles, especially those involved in resisting displacement, environmental Ram Manohar
Lohiya: Socialist
destruction and large-scale development projects. Lohiya provides an alternative Democracy
perspective, thus there is a growing interest in his ideas.
Lohiya has influenced many emerging writers and artists. He is known for his
influence on Hindi literature and writers in other Indian languages. Many scholars
have criticized Lohiya for his emphasis on Hindi language and his anti-English
approach. While commenting upon the critics of Lohiya, Yogendra Yadav has
argued that “the two most powerful orientations in the institutionalized world of
ideas in post-independent India – Nahruvian and Marxist – came together to
design a wall of silence around Lohiya.” Many critics of Lohiya’s ideas dismissed
him without reading him. They hold strong opinions about Lohiya without
reading him at all. Some critics cared to read Lohiya, but their reading tends to be
highly selective and the conclusions largely predetermined. The critique does not
go beyond the level of criticizing Lohiya for not understanding Marxism correctly
and for going against Nehru. Lohiya was concerned for people’s languages. He
argued that if language is the medium of expression, then the true expression of
the community would come forth only when its people expressed their thoughts in
indigenous language. He, therefore, pitched himself strongly against the
continuation of English as the medium of administration, the judiciary and higher
education.
He is considered as anti-Congress; the uncompromising critic of the Nehru-
Gandhi dynasty; and the person responsible for the politics of anti-English. For
Yogendra Yadav, Lohiya has been incorrectly portrayed as a Hindiwalla, Hindi
supremacist and a Hindi chauvinist. Lohiya’s thinking on the language question
has been misrepresented and misunderstood. In 1963, he propounded the strategy
of non-Congressism. He was of the opinion that in the past three general elections
the Congress won with a thumping majority and there was a feeling among the
masses that the Congress cannot be defeated and it has come to stay in power for
ever. Lohiya persuaded the entire spectrum of opposition parties to have mutual
adjustments to overthrow the Congress rule so that this illusion can be removed
from the masses. This formula of Lohiya got huge success in the 1967 general
elections and in nine States the Congress party was defeated and Samyukta
Vidhayak Dal (SVD) Governments were formed by the Opposition parties of that
time.
Lohiya also worked for the freedom of Goan and Nepalese people. He was a
relentless fighter against every form of injustice. He enthusiastically pleaded for
social equality and preferential opportunity for the socially oppressed sections of
society to enable them to overcome their hundreds of years old sufferings.
Lohiya knew the fact that people of India live in villages. He, therefore, became
the symbol of the aspirations of the poor peasants, the landless people and
agricultural labourers. He initiated farmer marches and struggles from 1947.

131
BLOCK IV
Imaginaries of the
Check Your Progress Exercise 1
Nation and the World
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
ii) Check your progress with the model answer given at the end of the unit.
1. Why did Ram Manohar Lohiya oppose the Congress and adopted non-
Congressism strategy?
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9.2 REDEFINING SOCIALISM

One of the main contributions of Lohiya was to redefine socialism while
considering socialist movement in non-European countries like India. His attempt
to redefine socialist was in line with his thinking that any ism should not be
followed unthinkingly.
Lohiya’s higher education studies in Germany were a period which shaped
Lohiya’s thinking and ideas. Indumati Kelkar, Lohiya’s contemporary and
biographer, informs us that it was in Germany that Lohiya became a social
democrat. When he returned to India in 1933, he became one of the leaders of the
CSP, which was formed in 1934. Through a long training in the freedom
movement and the organizational struggles to build a socialist movement, Lohiya
developed his ideas of socialism. Jayaprakash Narayan, one of the most
influential Indian socialist leaders, started the Bhoodan movement, and left
politics. Other leaders like Achyut Patwardhan and Ramnandan Mishra turned to
spiritual quests. Ashok Mehta joined the Congress after some time, and Acharya
Narendra Dev, the great intellectual, died in 1955. It was a serious time for the
socialist movement. In such a situation, Lohiya tried to fill the void.
Lohiya tried hard to give Indian socialism a new concept and philosophy. He was
not a socialist in a traditional sense. He opposed Marxism and Communist
totalitarianism. He wanted the Indian socialist movement to be liberated from
Marxian thought and action. He was influenced by the Gandhian principle of
Ahimsa. He played an important role in bringing up a synthesis between
Gandhian and Marxian concepts. He has contributed to give a new meaning and
method of action to make the Socialist Party the most effective weapon against
the capitalist system.
Lohiya defined socialism in terms of ‘equality’ and ‘prosperity’ or ‘affluence’ for
132 the people. To quote him, “If socialism is to be defined in two words then they
are, equality and prosperity. I do not know if this definition has been given earlier Ram Manohar
Lohiya: Socialist
at any time. If so, I would call it the best definition given so far. The meaning of Democracy
socialism is ingrained in these two words: concrete meaning in terms of time and
place, and total meaning in terms of ideals.” But the problem that tormented
Lohiya was how to bring equality and prosperity together. In Lohiya’s experience,
the extremes of affluence and poverty, which had to be leveled down, were not
aspects of the similar society. This division, in its most glaring form, had become
an aspect of the global order in which the white people of Europe and the U.S.
had all the wealth and high levels of productivity while the rest of world remained
mired in poverty, dogged by low productivity and low income. That transformed
the issue of equality not only amid people of the same country inhabited by those
having the same skin colour, but also among people with different skin colours –
black, brown and white. It extended to include the differences of caste and gender.

9.2.1 Sapta Kranti (Seven Revolutions)

Lohiya gave the idea of Sapta Kranti (Seven Revolutions). The programme of
Sapta Kranti was his comprehensive answer for realizing the socialist dream in
the modern world system. He tried to establish an Asian Socialist Forum because
organizations such as the Socialist International and the Communist International
(or the Comintern) were under the control of white people, either under the
Atlantic block or the Soviet block. These contemplations provided impetus to
form the concept of Sapta Kranti which constituted (i) the civil disobedience
against violent revolutions; (ii) economic equality; (iii) abolition of castes; (iv)
emancipation of women; (v) national independence; (vi) an end to colour
discrimination; and (vii) the individual’s freedom of thought, free of coercion
from collectives of any kind.
Lohiya was the theorist of Sapta Kranti in the context of creating a new world
order on the basis of socialism. He wanted to give a new direction to the
movement for socialism by giving equal emphasis to the struggles against sexism,
class and caste-based exploitations. It was a departure from the Marxist line of a
class-centric programme for a socialist revolution. It was also going beyond the
Gandhian emphasis on constructive programme of ending untouchability and
casteism. This Sapta Kranti is supposed to be simultaneously taking place in the
modern world system and it was presented as the most outstanding feature of the
twentieth century.

9.2.2 New Ideology or Doctrine of Socialism

Lohiya’s contributions to the socialist thought are manifold. He believed that the
individual should be free from ignorance, backwardness and all kinds of
superstitions and prejudices. He highlighted the ideological problems of the
socialist movement in India. He was inspired by Marxism, but he did not accept
some of the postulates of Marxism without thinking. He argued that Gandhian
ideas and principles should be re-examined and reconsidered in the light of the
changes in the socialist and communist movements all over the world. He further
urged to look into the economic problems a country is facing. 133
BLOCK IV Socialism was originally a European theory in at least two senses. It originated
Imaginaries of the
Nation and the World from Europe, and it was mainly about Europe. Later on, it got transferred to many
non-European societies including India. Indian socialist thinkers had to deal with
this European element in their theory. Thus, the question of the West in Indian
political thought got translated into the Indian socialist thought as well. The
general responses of the Indian socialists was to accept the original western
theory, whether communism or democratic-socialism, in its given form. As a
result, most of them did not question the belief in the superiority of European
civilization. Lohiya’s contribution to Indian socialist thought can be understood in
this context. He was the first thinker in India to challenge the dependence of
socialist theory on the West. His entire system of thought was an attempt to build
a truly universal socialist theory which took into account the non-European world
as well. Lohiya’s basic argument in this regard can be stated as follows. Socialism
is a liberating and revolutionary ideology. However, due to various historical
reasons it has till now centred around Europe. Orthodox Marxism or communism
illustrates this dependence. Even those socialists who reject communism tend to
mix some features of communism and capitalism, both of which are European
products. That is why socialism has failed to perform a revolutionary role in the
non-European world. This becomes another tool for establishing European
superiority. The way out of this situation is a new ideology or doctrine of
socialism. Our task is to search for theoretical foundations of this new doctrine. It
involves understanding a fresh historical analysis, setting new goals and devising
more appropriate strategies keeping the non-western experience in mind. This is
the task that Lohiya set for himself and tried to fulfill throughout his life. Lohiya’s
task is to remove Euro-centric assumptions i.e. basic ideas centred around Europe,
from the existing socialist theory and to build an alternative theory in its place.
On the basis of Lohiya’s definition of socialism which is based on equality and
prosperity, he claimed his socialism as distinct from European socialism which
has failed to acquire a face of its own, distinct from capitalist democracy and
Russian communism. His socialism was new, regenerated and liberated from the
traditional stains of socialism. He, therefore, strongly believed in the idea that
socialist movement in India should have a distinct Indian character.
According to Lohiya, Marx did not consider the peculiar and specific conditions
of the non-European world, particularly developing World countries. Lohiya
thought that his idea of socialism as a new civilization which would arise in the
backward regions of the present civilization and might ultimately cover the entire
world. It was largely influenced by the needs and requirements of the present
countries of the developing World. Lohiya argued that communism and European
tradition of socialism are not relevant in the prevailing socio-economic realities in
the developing World countries. Therefore, Lohiya advanced his theory of
socialism. He argued that modern concept like capitalism, socialism, equality,
liberty, etc. which have evolved in the context of the European experience, should
not be universalized and should not be entirely applied to Indian conditions.

134 It can be argued that Lohiya’s ideas and perceptions on socialism was highly
pragmatic. He not only redefined socialism in the context of developing World
countries, but also suggested various programmes for its realization. He supported Ram Manohar
Lohiya: Socialist
the doctrine – Equal Irrelevance of communism and capitalism – to the Democracy
developing world, including India.

Check Your Progress Exercise 2

Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
ii) Check your progress with the model answer given at the end of the unit.
1. Why did Ram Manohar Lohiya oppose the Congress and adopted non-
Congressism strategy?
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9.3 SOCIALIST DEMOCRACY

Lohiya believed in socialist democracy. He was the founder of an alternative
politics based on socialist ideology, with programmes of spade, vote and jail and
Sapta Kranti. He described these programmes as the symbols of a new
perspective of action and construction. According to Rajindar Sachar, Lohiya
gave a slogan, the sheet-anchor of Democratic Socialism, thus: spade-prison-vote
– where spade symbolized constructive activity, prison stood for peaceful struggle
against injustice, and the vote for political action. He attempted to incorporate the
Gandhian ideas into socialist thought.
He supported the power to the elected representatives of the people through
parliamentary means, but accepted the non-violent direct action against any and
every social, economic and political injustice.
He believed that the power of the state should be controlled, guided, and framed
by people’s power. He also believed in the ideology of democratic socialism and
non-violent methodology as instruments of governance.
Lohiya also elaborated his thoughts on the caste system in India. He criticized the
caste system. He interacted with some of the most important anti-caste leaders,
movements and organizations of India in his quest for the abolition of caste
system. He also engaged with Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and Periyar Ramasami
Naicker. According to Lohiya, it is necessary to put primary emphasis on the
removal of caste system through systemic reform process for the success of
democratic socialist movement in India.

135
BLOCK IV Lohiya was known for his Four Pillar State concept. He believed that the village,
Imaginaries of the
Nation and the World mandal (district), province and central government as the four pillars of the state.
He supported the idea of villages having police and welfare functions.
In his book on Marx, Gandhi and Socialism, Lohiya analyzed the principles of
democratic socialism as an appropriate philosophy for the successful operation of
constructive programmes. He was of the opinion that the economy of a
developing country could be improved through the principles of democratic
socialism.
Lohiya’s idea of socialism has three significant aspects that he sought to develop.
One, the decentralized state based on small agro-industrial communities and
operating on the principle of the “small unit machine”. Lohiya was also a firm
believer in decentralized economy. He emphasized the need of setting up of
cottage industries and the small machines with minimum capital investments
where maximum manpower may be used. However, it is not to be confused with
the Gandhian economy based on village self-sufficiency. Two, a new meaning
and understanding of Equality in the context of Indian history and situation. And
three, the means to achieve the socialist goal.
The aims of Lohiya’s socialism are the following:
1. Maximum attainable equality and justice tempered by equality.
2. A decent standard of living which, while avoiding the double impasse of
capitalistic and dialectical materialism, will tend to establish complete harmony
between the material and moral needs of man.
3. An industrial and agricultural technique and its judicious organization,
subjected to man and conducive to his entire physical, intellectual and moral
development.
4. The decentralization of political and economic power so as to make it easily
available to the common man, and restriction of bureaucracy by the
encouragement of cooperation in all domains, particularly in the domain of
production, distribution and consumption of national produce.

9.3.1 Democracy and Socialism

Lohiya was influenced by ideas of democracy and socialism. He considered these
two ideas as the two sides of the same coin. Socialism and democracy were in no
way different. He believed that they were not only complementary to each other,
but also interdependent. There could be no socialism without democracy. He
evolved a theory of limited personality of individual, party, government and state.
To quote him, “Democracy in all circumstances shall be the sheet-anchor of the
ideas and programmers of socialism. Democracy means the inevitable
answerability of administration to elected assembly.”
Lohiya was a democrat by conviction, but socialism appealed him as a way of
life. Lohiya believed in democracy, freedom and individual liberty. Such a belief
136 repelled him from communism or Marxism. Lohiya knew that freedom can exist
only when there is equality in all the walks of life.
 Ram Manohar
Check Your Progress Exercise 3 Lohiya: Socialist
Democracy
Note: i) Use the space given below for your answer.
ii) Check your progress with the model answer given at the end of the unit.
1. Why did Ram Manohar Lohiya oppose the Congress and adopted non-
Congressism strategy?
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9.4 LET US SUM UP

Ram Manohar Lohiya occupies a significant place in the intellectual and political
history of modern India. There are many who admired and adored Lohiya, but
Lohiya was also criticized by many. Nonetheless, Lohiya’s position as a profound
thinker and inspiring leader remains, to a large extent, undisputed. He is one of
those few thinkers of modern India who recognized, with astonishing clarity, the
difficulties and complexities involved in transferring the ideology of socialism
from Europe to non-European cultural locations. He redefined socialism in the
context of non-European world, particularly developing World countries. Lohiya
knew very well that socialism, as an ideology and a movement, owed its origin to
Europe. Therefore, its pursuit elsewhere posed a huge theoretical challenge.
Political theorists have described this process as a transfer of political theory.
Lohiya readily accepted this challenge and invested a significant part of his
intellectual energy in the task of transferring the political theory of socialism from
Europe to the larger non-European world.
Lohiya attempted to develop an indigenous, autonomous socialism as an
alternative to Nehruvian socialism or Eurocentred socialism. He condemned both
communism and capitalism as unsuitable in Indian circumstances. He, therefore,
attempted to develop a third camp vis-à-vis the capitalist and communist camps. It
is largely an attempt to build an indigenous socialism that would emerge from
non-European world and meet their urgent needs. Lohiya has been regarded by
many as the most original of the Indian socialist thinkers because of his attempt to
liberate socialist doctrine from its traditional understanding. His original and
creative mind attracted writers and artists and inspired young generations. He
contributed significantly to the history of Indian socialist thought and movement.
Lohiya is a noted figure whose thoughts and ideas continue to have a powerful
influence on socio-political life in India. Although there has been a tendency
137
among the recent researchers not to recognize Lohiya and his contribution to
BLOCK IV socialist thought in India, his democratic socialist approach to look at ideology as
Imaginaries of the
Nation and the World an integrated phenomenon is now being widely accepted throughout the world.
Lohiya was one of the most inspiring, courageous, consistent and creative
socialist leaders of the twentieth century. His ideas and views on diverse issues
are quiet relevant even today and will continue to remain in the coming centuries.

9.5 REFERENCES
 Arumugam, M. (1978). Socialist Thought in India: The Contribution of
Rammanohar Lohia. New Delhi: Sterling.
 Chaudhari, Chitrita. (1993). Rammanohar Lohia and the Indian Socialist
Thought. Calcutta: Minerva Associates (Publications) Pvt. Ltd.
 Deepak, Omprakash and Arvind Mohan. (2006). Lohia: Ek Jeevani.
Bikaner: Vagdevi Prakashan.
 Kelkar, Indumati. (2009). Dr. Rammanohar Lohia: His Life and
Philosophy. New Delhi: Anamika.
 Krishna, Gopal. (1968). Rammanohar Lohia: An Appreciation. Economic
and Political Weekly 3 (26/28): 1105-14.
 Lohia, Rammanohar. (1966). Equality and Prosperity. Mankind 10 (7).
 ____. (1970). India’s Path to Socialism. Mankind.
 Nene, S. R. (2010). Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Remembered: His
Philosophy, Scholarship and Vision. New Delhi: Rupa.
 Oesterheld, Joachim. (2010). Lohia as a Doctoral Student in Berlin.
Economic and Political Weekly 45 (40): 85-91.
 Pillai, K. Gopinathan. (1994). Political Philosophy of Rammanohar Lohia:
Alternative Development Perceptions. New Delhi: Deep and Deep
Publications.
 Sachar, Rajindar. (2009). Dr. Lohia – Our Revolutionary Mentor.
Mainstream 47 (14).
 Tolpadi, Rajaram. (2010). Context, Discourse and Vision of Lohiya’s
Socialism. Economic and Political Weekly 45 (40): 71-77.
 Yadav, Yogendra. (2010). On Remembering Lohia. Economic and
Political Weekly 45 (40): 46-50.

9.6 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress Exercise 1
1. Your answer should highlight following points
 Lohiya was of the opinion that in the first three general elections of
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independent India, the Congress won with a thumping majority and there
 was a feeling among the masses that the Congress cannot be defeated and Ram Manohar
Lohiya: Socialist
it has come to stay in power for ever. Democracy
 The Congress was becoming dominant political party which could
dominate the Indian political scenario.
 It was the necessity to unite all non-Congress parties to provide alternative
to the Congress dominance.

Check Your Progress Exercise 2

1. Your answer should highlight following points
 According to Lohiya, the Indian socialist theory was depended upon the
West. He argued that communism and European tradition of socialism are
irrelevant in the exiting socio-economic realities in the developing world
countries including India.
 Lohiya’s entire system of thought was an attempt to build a truly universal
socialist theory which took into account the non-European world as well.
 It involves understanding a fresh historical analysis, setting new goals and
devising more appropriate strategies keeping the non-western experience
in mind.

Check Your Progress Exercise 3

1. Your answer should highlight following points
 Lohiya’s alternative politics based on socialist ideology, with programmes
of spade, vote and jail and Sapta Kranti.
 Three significant aspects of Lohiya’s idea of socialism: One, the
decentralized state based on small agro-industrial communities and
operating on the principle of the “small unit machine”; two, a new
meaning and understanding of Equality in the context of Indian history
and situation; and three, the means to achieve the socialist goal.
 Lohiya considered democracy and socialism as the two sides of the same
coin. These were in no way distinct. They were complementary to each
other, and also interdependent.

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