Swarajist Party & Simon Commission

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Swarajist Party

Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru proposed a new line of activity.
They wanted to enter into electoral politics and demonstrate that the nationalists were capable of obstructing the working of the reformed legislature by capturing them and arousing nationalist spirit.
Swaraj means ‘Independence’ or ‘Self Rule’.
This group came to be called the ‘Swarajists and Pro-Changers’.
The team led by Rajagopalachari, Vallabhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad was called ‘No changers.‘
Despite the opposition C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru formed the Swaraj Party on 1 January 1923, which was later approved by a special session of the Congress.
Swaraj party was named as “Congress Khilafat Swarajya Party“.
In Tamil Nadu, Satyamurti joined this group to continue the Gandhian line by mobilizing the masses.
The Swarajya party did reasonably well in the elections to Central Assembly by winning 42 of the 101 seats open for election.
They effectively used the legislature as a platform for propagation of nationalist ideas.
In Bengal, they refused to take charge of transferred subjects, as they did not want to cooperate with the government.
With the cooperation of other members they were able to stall many anti-people legislations of the colonial regime.

The Swaraj Party began to decline after the death of its leader C.R. Das in 1925.
Some of the Swaraj Party members began to accept government offices in the name of ‘responsivists’ started cooperating with the government, claiming to safeguard “Hindu interests“.
The Muslim fundamentalists similarly seized the space created by the lull in national struggle and started fanning communal feeling.
To contain the communal frenzy Gandhi went on a (in 1924) 21 day fast.
Swaraj Party withdrew from the legislatures in 1926.

On 8 November 1927, the British Government announced the appointment of the Indian Statutory Commission.
Composed of seven members headed by Sir John Simon it came to be widely known as the Simon Commission.
The commission had only white men as members and it was an insult to Indians.
The Congress session in Madras (December 1927) meeting under the presidency of M.A. Ansari decided to boycott the commission
The Muslim league and the Hindu Mahasabha also supported the decision.
But Justice Party in Tamil Nadu and Punjab supported the Commission.
Wherever the Commission went there were protests, and black flag marches with the slogan ‘Go Back Simon’.
Jawaharlal Nehru and G.B. Pand were beaten up in Lucknow. Many Youngsters were committed rebellion across India.
Some important ones were the Punjab Naujawan Bharat Sabha, Workers’ and Peasants’ Parties and Hindustani Sewa Dal (Karnataka).
In Lahore, Lal Lajpat Rai was seriously injured and died on November 17, 1928.
The arrival of Simon Commission in Madras on 18 February 1929 was greeted with demonstrations and hartals.

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