Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) is a Marxist–Leninist political party in India.The party was founded on 19 March 1940 and has its roots in the Bengali liberation movement Anushilan Samiti and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army. The party got around 0.4% of the votes and three seats in the Lok Sabha elections in 1999 and 2004. It is part of the state government in Tripura (as of June 2011).The Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) is a regional political party, as approved by the Election Commission of India. Its mass base is primarily in the state of West Bengal, though it has a visible presence in the states of Kerala, Tripura and Tamil Nadu, along with branches in 18 other states.
In Bengal and Tripura, whereas it is part of the Left Front, in Kerala it is part of the Left Democratic Front. The RSP has a left political position, and operates on the political ideology of Socialism and Marxism-Leninism. The party was founded on March 19, 1940 and has its roots in the Bengali liberation movement Anushilan Samiti and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army.
It is part of the state governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. A major section of the Anushilan movement had been attracted to Marxism during the 1930s, many of them studying marxist-leninist literature whilst serving long jail sentences. A minority section broke away from the Anushilan movement and joined the Communist Consolidation, and later the Communist Party of India. The majority of the Anushilan marxists did however, whilst having adopted marxist-leninist thinking, feel hesitant over joining the Communist Party.
The RSP is one strand of the many Indian political parties with a communist ideology. It was born at a time when India was facing the severest colonial oppression. Inspired by the Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia in 1917, and the victory of the working-class under the leadership of the Bolsheviks guided by Lenin, this group of young Indian freedom fighters wanted to utilize the ideal of Marxism to the Indian anti-imperialist struggles. They also questioned the growing buzz of ‘Socialism in One Country’. They exposed the hypocrisy of the ‘national-reformist leaders’, and branded the Communist Party of India as a group of ‘Social Fascists’. Their militant and revolutionary spirits were inclined towards improving the dismal conditions of the working-class of the country.
Many of these communists worked together with the workers, peasants, trade unions and labourers, as part of a class-struggle against imperialist forces. Their rallying Marxian outcry was “Workers of All Lands Unite”. Though they rejected the fascist mentalities of Stalinism, they did not automatically embrace Trotskyism. In Ramgarh, Bihar in 1940, the members of the Anushilan Samiti, including the Forward Bloc supremo Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, met at a historic conference and formed the RSP.
The Election Symbol of the Revolutionary Socialist Party, as approved by the Election Commission of India, is “spade and stoker”. This election symbol is usually depicted on a red-coloured flag, which is the colour of struggle symbolizing a communist party. Red is the colour of revolutionary zeals and ideas, and the spirit to “never say die”. Red is also the colour of blood, indicating a class struggle. The spade and stoker are individually very significant. Seen as intersecting each other, these motifs help the election symbol depict that the RSP is a party of the peasants, farmers, labourers, the workers who work in the fields and industries to earn a living. It depicts the conditions of the working class. The hammer is used to dig the ground in the agricultural field, or in the industries. The worker or the farmer toils in the industry or the land and at the end of the day gets a meagre amount as pay.
Address and Contact details
Official Website of RSP: http://rsp.org.in
Head-Office Address of RSP: 17, Firoz Shah Road, New Delhi 110001
Contact number: 011-23782167
Email id: contact@rsp.org