The Swaraj Party, Revolutionaries and the Mid-1920s (1922 to 1927)

After Non-Cooperation ended, the Swarajists tried to use the councils to obstruct the government, while revolutionaries organised a new armed struggle and new left and communal groups emerged.

Swarajists and No-Changers

• Pro-changers (C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru, Vithalbhai Patel) wanted to enter the legislative councils to obstruct the government. No-changers (Rajagopalachari, Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, M.A. Ansari) wanted to continue constructive work.
• At Gaya (December 1922) Das's proposal was defeated. Das and Motilal formed the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party on 1 January 1923 (Allahabad). A Special Congress at Delhi (September 1923), under Maulana Azad, allowed Swarajists to contest elections.
• In the 1923 elections they won 42 of 101 elected seats in the Central Legislative Assembly and were strong in Bengal and the Central Provinces. Vithalbhai Patel became Speaker (1925).
• They blocked Bills, defeated budgets and exposed the government. The Muddiman Committee (1924) reviewed the Reforms. After C.R. Das died (June 1925), the party weakened.

Revolutionary activity

• Hindustan Republican Association (HRA, 1924) was founded at Kanpur by Sachindranath Sanyal, Ram Prasad Bismil, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee.
• Kakori Conspiracy (9 August 1925): The HRA looted a government treasury train near Kakori (Lucknow). Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Roshan Singh and Rajendra Lahiri were hanged (1927).
• Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA, September 1928) at Feroze Shah Kotla, Delhi: Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru and others.

Left, labour and communal groups

• AITUC was founded in 1920 (Lala Lajpat Rai was the first president). The Communist Party of India was formed (Kanpur, 1925). Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was founded in Nagpur in 1925 (K.B. Hedgewar).
• Communal riots increased after 1922, and Swami Shraddhanand was killed in 1926. The Hindu Mahasabha and Muslim League became active again.
• The Trade Unions Act (1926) recognised unions.