The Congress Party in Rajasthan: Political Integration and Institution-building in an Indian State

370 Pages·1972·17.591 MB·English

by  Richard Sisson

The Center for South and Southeast Asia Studies of the University of California is
the unifying organization for faculty members and students interested in South and
Southeast Asia Studies, bringing together scholars from numerous disciplines. The
Center's major aims are the development and support of reasearch and the language
study. As part of this program the Center sponsors a publication series of books con-
cerned with South and Southeast Asia. Manuscripts are considered from all campuses
of the University of California as well as from any other individuals and institutions
doing research in these areas.
PUBLICATIONS OF THE CENTER FOR SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA STUDIES
Angela S. Burger
Opposition in a Dominant-Party System: A Study of the Jan Sangh, the Praja Socialist
Party, and the Socialist Party in Uttar Pradesh, India (1969)
Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr.
Nadars of Tamilnad: The Political Culture of a Community in Change (1969)
Eugene F. Irschick
Politics and Social Conflict in South India: The Non-Brahmam Movement and Tamil
Separatism, 1916-1929 (1969)
Briton Martin, Jr.
New India, 1885: British Official Policy and the Emergence of the Indian National
Congress (1969)
James T. Siegel
The Rope of God (1969)
Jyotirindra Das Gupta
Language Conflict and National Development: Group Politics and National Language
Policy in India (1970)
Gerald D. Berreman
Hindus of the Himalayas (Second Revised Edition, 1971)
Richard G. Fox
Kin, Clan, Raja, and Rule: State-Hinterland Relations in Preindustrial India (1971)
Robert N. Kearney
Trade Unions and Politics in Ceylon (1971)
David N. Lorenzen
The Kdpälikas and Kälämukhas: Two Lost Saivite Sects (1971)
David G. Marr
Vietnamese Anticolonialism, 1885-1925 (1971)
Leo E. Rose
Nepal—Strategy for Survival (1971)
Prakash Tandon
Beyond Punjab: A Sequel to Punjabi Century (1971)
Elizabeth Whitcombe
Agrarian Conditions in Northern India. Volume One: The United Provinces under
British Rule, 1860-1900 (1971)
THE CONGRESS PARTY IN RAJASTHAN
THIS VOLUME IS SPONSORED BY THE
CENTER FOR SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA STUDIES,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

THE CONGRESS PARTY
IN RAJASTHAN
POLITICAL INTEGRATION AND
INSTITUTION-BUILDING
IN AN INDIAN STATE
Richard Sisson
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley • Los Angeles • London
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS / BERKELEY te LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, LTD. / LONDON, ENGLAND
COPYRIGHT © 1972, BY THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
ISBN: 0-520-01808-7
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 70-129607
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TO THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS
OF RAJPUTANA

CONTENTS
i INTRODUCTION: CONCEPTION AND PURPOSE
2 POLITY AND SOCIETY IN THE PRINCELY
STATES OF RAJPUTANA 18
Power and Authority in the Rajputana States 19
Land Tenure and Latent Class Division 24
Geography and Demography 28
Social Organization and Regional Dispersion 32
3 THE ORIGINS OF THE PARTY SYSTEM I:
URBAN PROTEST AND POLITICAL CHANGE 41
The Rise of Popular Movements in the Urban Areas 43
The Institutionalization of Political Protest:
The Rise of Organizational Permanence 50
Segmentation in the Organization of Political
Support 60
The Praja Mandals and the Nationalist Movement 66
4 THE ORIGINS OF THE PARTY SYSTEM II: THE
ORGANIZATION OF PEASANT MOVEMENTS 73
The Kisan Movement in Jodhpur: The
Development of Caste Cohesion 78
The Kisan Movement in Shekhawati: Peasant
Populism and Political Agitation 83
The Kisan Sabhas and the Urban Movements:
Patterns of Autonomy and Association 89
5 POLITICAL COMMUNITY AND POLITICAL
INTEGRATION: THE FOUNDING AND
DEVELOPMENT OF THE RAJASTHAN
CONGRESS 97
viii CONTENTS
Organization and Objectives of the Rajasthan
Congress 97
The Integration of the Rajputana States 104
From Political Movement to Governing Party:
Political Responsibility and the Problem of Power 111
Party Organization at the Local Level 119
6 INSTITUTIONAL FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTA-
BILITY: CHANGING PATTERNS OF SOCIAL
REPRESENTATION IN THE CONGRESS
ORGANIZATION 124
Social Representation in the Rajasthan Congress 130
Variability in Social Representation: Region
and Time 145
The Politics of Elite-Caste Dominance:
Cases From the Eastern Plains 147
The Congress and the Green Uprising: Peasant
Mobilization and Organizational Adaptation 1G0
7 ORGANIZATIONAL MOBILITY AND PARTICI-
PATION: CIRCULATION AND CONGRUENCY
OF PARTY ELITES 178
Representation and Political Generation 181
The Circulation of Organizational Elites 187
The "Congruency" of Organizational Elites 193
Organization Men and Legislative Aspiration 195
"Congruency" of Organizational and Legislative
Elites 200
8 CONFLICT AND COHESION IN THE LEGIS-
LATIVE PARTY: THE MAINTENANCE OF
GOVERNING COALITIONS 204
The Problem of Ministry Formation: Public
Elections and Factional Change 214
Competition and Cohesion: The Search for
Accommodation 232
The Management of Factional Conflict: Themes
from the Sukhadia Decade 240