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Nehruvian Consensus

Jawaharlal Nehru was the dominant political leader in independent India's first decades and established the Nehruvian consensus. This consensus was based on four pillars: multi-party democracy, equality for all citizens regardless of attributes, tilt towards socialism, and non-alignment in foreign policy. Nehru's vision shaped India's policies in building socialism through planning and public sector development, secularism, mixed economy development model, and promotion of the Non-Aligned Movement and Afro-Asian unity. While influential, Nehru faced criticism from both the political right and left as well as former Congressmen over issues like decentralization, representation of ordinary citizens, and respect for indigenous traditions.

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Reena Hooda Dahiya
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2K views5 pages

Nehruvian Consensus

Jawaharlal Nehru was the dominant political leader in independent India's first decades and established the Nehruvian consensus. This consensus was based on four pillars: multi-party democracy, equality for all citizens regardless of attributes, tilt towards socialism, and non-alignment in foreign policy. Nehru's vision shaped India's policies in building socialism through planning and public sector development, secularism, mixed economy development model, and promotion of the Non-Aligned Movement and Afro-Asian unity. While influential, Nehru faced criticism from both the political right and left as well as former Congressmen over issues like decentralization, representation of ordinary citizens, and respect for indigenous traditions.

Uploaded by

Reena Hooda Dahiya
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© © All Rights Reserved
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LAVANYA

2019POL1067
POL SCI (HONS)
What was Nehruvian consensus? How it
influenced social political and economic aspects
of State Policy in the first two decades of
independent India.
Jawaharlal Nehru can be justifiably considered an architect of modern
India he has been described as a democrat socialist, humanist and
visionary.The range of his interest and concerns was wide indeed; from
basic education to heavy industry, from statistics collection to world
peace, from women’s liberation to tribal welfare, and from earth to
mountain climbing and cricket.he was a renaissance man, a product of
enlightenment with his commitment to rationality, humanity, respect for
the individual, independence of spirit and secularism.

Above all Nehru was a nationalist and his commitment to nationalism,


national unity and national independence can be seen after 1947.
Nehru’s vision for India rested on four pillars —

a) multi-party democracy on the Westminster model

b) State guarantees for the equality of all citizens regardless of gender,


class and religion

c) Tilt towards socialism

d) a foreign policy based on pan-Asianism and equidistance from the


two superpowers.

• Since he served as prime minister for 17 continuous years, he also was


able to get his vision — or at least large parts of it — enacted into
practice. In the 1950s and 1960s, Nehru and Nehruvians played a
dominant role in Indian political discourse.Nehruvian consensus could be
seen in the following policies and his work -

Building socialism-
Nehru rejected the capitalist developmental and civilisational perspective
and instead working for fundamental transformation of Indian society in a
socialist direction.Nehru carried the socialist vision to millions and made
socialism a part of the consciousness.

• Socialism meant greater equality of opportunity, social justice, more


equitable distribution of higher incomes generated through the application
of modern science and technology to the processes of production, the
ending of the acute social and economic disparities generated by
feudalism and capitalism, and the application of the scientific approach to
the problems of society.it also meant the gradual ending of class
distinction and class domination. Socialism also laid down the large scale
social ownership or control over the principal means of production.

• On the basis of his experience of the national movement Nehru came to


the view that basic social change can be and should be brought about
only through a broad societal consensus.Nehru argued that in the absence
of broad societal consensus any radical steps towards socialism would
invite the danger of fascism.

• Nehru adopted an open minded approach towards the socialism because


he believed that it was not possible to mobilise large majority around the
structured ideological definition of socialism. A large majority can be more
mobilised only by the diverse interest and multiple views around the
common socialist vision

Nehru’s Secularism -
• Nehru’s commitment to secularism was unsurpassed. Keeping in view
India’s specific situation Nehru define secularism in the dual sense of
keeping the state politics and education separate from religion, making
religion a private matter for the individual and showing equal respect for all
faiths and providing equal opportunities for their followers.

• He described communalism as the Indian form of fascism contrast he


regarded secularism as an essential condition for democracy.

• He argued that secularism had to be the sole basis for the national unity in
multi religious society and that communalism was therefore clearly a
danger to the national unity and was antinational.

• We can see Nehru’s secularism through Freedom of religion as


fundamental right guaranteed by Article 25-28 of the Constitution of
India. Even in 1976 preamble by 42nd amendment act , the word
secular was added in the preamble. Thus secularism is reflected by
Nehruvian ideals.
Nehru’s economic policy-
Nehru looked upon rapid economic development as basic for India’s
independence and unity and for the removal of poverty and implementation
of the social welfare policies.

The three pillars of Nehru development strategy representing widespread


consensus of the time were

A) planning for rapid industrial and agricultural growth,

B) public public sector to develop strategic industries and

C) a mixed economy

• India was to have a mixed economy as a transitional stage, with the


private sector functioning for a long time to come through within the
framework of planning. The public sector was not to be based only on the
state enterprises. Nehru was very clear that the cooperative principles
should be encouraged and should play an increasingly larger role.

• Nehru held that where are the public sector performed well you should
remain and where are you did not it was to be replaced.

• Rapid industrialisation, particularly growth of heavy industries, planning,


Development of public sector, atomic energy and science and technology,
technological modernisation and training of a large technical and scientific
cadre were regarded by Nehru is necessary part of the efforts of the
economic development.India did make transition from a colonial to an
independent economy, though capitalist economy.

• Whatever the weakness that emerged later, Nehru’s economic policy did
prove to be the right one for India and as a result India’s economic
development was quite substantial.

• Today, India is considered a mixed economy as advocated by Nehru:


the private and public-sectors co-exist and the country leverages
international trade.

Nehru’s foreign policy-


Non alignment movement

• Jawaharlal Nehru played a crucial role in setting the national agenda. He


was foreign minister. Served both as the Prime Minister and Foreign
Minister exercise profound influence in the foundation and implementation
of India’s foreign policy from 1946 to 1964.Three major objectives of the
Nehru’s foreign policy were to preserve the hard on sovereignty, protect
territorial integrity, and promote rapid economic development.

• Nehru pursued The dream of a peaceful world by advocating the


policy of nonalignment, by the reducing Cold War tensions and by
contributing human resources to the UN peacekeeping operations.Indian
never joined any block during the Cold War. India advocated nonalignment
as the ideal foreign policy approach. This was a difficult balancing act and
sometimes the balance did not appear perfect. In 1956 when the Britain
attacked Egypt over Suez Canal issue, India protested against the neo-
colonial invasion. But in the same year when the USSR invaded Hungary
India did not join its public condemnation. Despite such a situation by and
large India did take an independent stand on various international issues
and could get aid and assistance from the members of both the blocks.

• The US was not happy about India’s independent initiatives and the policy
of nonalignment. Therefore there was a considerable unease in the Indo
US relations during 1950 is the US also resented India’s growing
partnership with the Soviet union.

• India wanted to self-reliant after Independence there is the focus more on


import substitution. This development strategy ledI India’s economic
interaction with the outside world.



Afro asian unity-
• His era marked establishment of contacts between India and the other
newly independent states in Asia and Africa. Throughout the 1940s and
50s Nehru had been an ardent advocate of the Asian unity. Under his
leadership India convene Asian relations conference in 1947. India made
honest efforts for the early realisation of the freedom of in Indonesia from
Dutch colonial regime by convening the freedom by convening an
international conference in 1949 to support its freedom struggle .

• India was staunch supporter of the decolonisation process and firmly


opposed to racism, especially apartheid in South Africa.

• The afro-Asian conference held in the Indonesian city of Bandung in


1955, commonly known as the Bandung conference month zenith of
India’s engagement in the newly independent Asian and African nations.
The Bandung conference later led to the establishment of nonalignment
movement the first summit of the non-aligned movement was held in
Belgrade in September 19 161 Nehru was co-founder of non-alignment
movement.

• One scholarly discipline that remained in thrall to Nehruvian ideas


was economics. When the draft Second Five Year Plan was circulated
to a panel of 24 economists, as many as 23 agreed with its broad
thrust.

Yet even at the height of their influence they were by no means


unchallenged. From the right, Nehru was opposed by the Jana Sangh,
which insisted that Hinduism defined the essence of the Indian nation, and
therefore Hindu faith and sentiment must guide the State’s programmes and
policies. From the Left, Nehru and his Congress party were challenged by
the communists, who advocated a thoroughgoing nationalisation of private
property, a closer relationship with the Soviet Union, and active opposition to
American policies everywhere.

Interestingly, among the most effective of Nehru’s critics were former


Congressmen who had broken ranks with him. there was Jayaprakash
Narayan (JP), who opposed to Nehru’s top-down model the virtues of
political decentralisation. Rammanohar Lohia, who argued that Nehru
represented an alien, English-speaking, upper-caste sensibility and was thus
out of touch with the ordinary folk.

Also CSDS sociologist Ashis Nandy dismissed Nehru as an arrogant elitist


who had little interest in the culture and traditions of the aam aadmi. Nehru’s
belief in the ‘scientific temper’, argued Nandy, disregarded the rich traditions
of indigenous knowledge that had sustained peasant agriculture, indigenous
medicine, and craft traditions. Meanwhile, the anthropologist, T.N. Madan,
argued for a ‘Gandhian secularism’, which — unlike its Nehruvian
counterpart —would respect rather than reject folk traditions of faith and of
inter-faith understanding.

To conclude the Prime Minister of India Nehru’s was faced with daunting in
tasks. He rooted certain values, approaches, objectives, and made them
integral part of the Indian people.Many leaders, scholars, people draw
inspiration from his life and work and the values he sustained to build
happier and healthier society which caste , class ,gender oppression cease
to exist.

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