TheLok Sewak Sangh ('Union of Servants of the People', abbreviatedLSS), orManbhum Lok Sewak Sangh, was apolitical party inPurulia District,West Bengal,India.[1] LSS was founded in 1948.[2] The party was the main political force in Purulia District from theindependence of India until the fall of the second United Front cabinet.[3]
It is not to be confused with theGandhian social movement by the same name.
LSS had been set up as a local social movement inManbhum, by leaders like Nibaranchandra Dasgupta andBibhuti Dasgupta, who had been released from jail in the early 1930s.[4] LSS was aGandhian movement working forSwaraj and social reform.[4] They challenged caste hierarchies, preaching toAdivasis andDalits to participate in social and political life on equal terms with upper caste Hindus.[4] The organization sought to fight against discrimination againstlepers.[4]
LSS was constituted as a political party by former leaders of theIndian National Congress, who had played a leading role in theQuit India movement in Purulia District.[3][5] Notable members of this group includedBibhuti Dasgupta and Arun Ghosh.[3] Through forming LSS they wanted to promote use ofBengali language in Bengali-dominated areas in southernBihar state.[5] They labelled the imposition ofHindi language as 'linguistic imperialism'.[6] After breaking with the Indian National Congress its elected officials resigned and were re-elected on LSS tickets.[6] The party adhered toGandhian socialism.[1]
The party contested the1951–1952 parliamentary elections as well as the first assembly elections, being able to defeat Congress candidates in some constituencies.[5] In the election to theLok Sabha (Lower House of theParliament of India), LSS won theManbhum South-cum-Dhalbum constituency, which elected two parliamentarians.[7] The LSS parliamentarians wereBhajahari Mahato andChaitan Manjhi.[7] LSS had fielded 4 candidates, won together mustered 309,940 votes (0.29% of the national vote).[7]
In the1952 Bihar Legislative Assembly election, LSS fielded 12 candidates out of whom 7 were victorious.[8] The LSS elected legislators were Sirish Chandra Banerjee (Baghmundi), Dimo Charmahar (Purulia-cum-Hura), Samarendra Nath Ojha (Purulia-cum-Hura), Nitai Singh Sardar (Manbazar-cum-Patamda), Satya Kinkar Mahata (Manbazar-cum-Patamda), Bhim Chandra Mahato (Barabazar-cum-Chandil) and Atul Chandra Singh Bhuiya (Barabazar cum Chandil).[8] In total the 12 LSS candidates mustered 148,921 votes (1.56% of the statewide vote).[8]
Ahead of theStates Reorganisation Act, 1956, LSS organised a movement in 1955 to secure the transfer of Bengali-speaking areas of Bihar into West Bengal.[3] The party organized a march ofsatyagrahis by foot from Pakbirah village (Manbhum District) toCalcutta, a 480 km walk.[9] The march lasted 16 days, gathering some 1,000 participants.[9] When reaching the vicinity of the West Bengal government headquarters, the march was broken up by police and participants arrested.[9] Some were jailed.[9]
After the reorganisation of thestates of India in 1956, most of the areas where LSS was active became part ofWest Bengal.[5] As of 1956 the leader of the party was Sirish Chandra Banerjee, who became of theWest Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1956.[5] In the1957 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election LSS fielded candidates in all 11 assembly seats in Purulia District.[10]
LSS contested the1962 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, fielding 11 candidates. LSS obtained 68,583 votes (0.72% of the statewide vote), winning 4 seats.[11]
Ahead of the1967 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election LSS entered into a seat-sharing agreement with both thePeople's United Left Front and theUnited Left Front.[12][13] After the election Bibhuti Dasgupta of LSS was named Minister forPanchayats and Social Welfare in the firstUnited Front government.[14][15]
LSS fielded 6 candidates in the1969 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, winning 4 seats.[16] The party obtained 99,844 (0.74%).[16] After the election LSS politician Bibhuti Dasgupta was namedPanchayat Minister in the second United Front cabinet.[17]
The LSS dominance over Purulia politics was broken after the fall of the United Front.[3] In the1971 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election LSS fielded 11 candidates, but none was elected.[18] The party obtained 52,980 votes (0.41% of the statewide vote).[18]
The party went into rapid decline.[19] Most of its erstwhile supporters joined theCommunist Party of India (Marxist).[19]
In line with Gandhian principles, LSS ran relief activities in during food scarcities, floods and other calamities.[6] It ran an auxiliary organization, Muktiyuddho Sewak Sangh, to help former freedom fighters.[6]
LSS publishedMukti ('Liberation') as its weekly organ during many years.[20][6][21] The publication had been founded during the independence struggle.[22] Bibhuti Dasgupta, the general secretary of the party, editedMukti.[23]
As of the early 1980s, it was issued in 1,000 copies and edited by Arun Chandra Ghosh.[20]
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