Cooperative Party
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Co-operative Party | |
---|---|
Matrabashi name | सहकारी पार्टी |
Abbreviation | CP |
Presidium | Standing Committee |
General Secretary | Ekanath Nayak1 |
Committee Members | Aditi Padhya Prem Dalavi Jeet Mukhtar Manhar Mulani |
Founder | Anand Mahanti |
Founded | February 15, 1949 |
Preceded by | People's Party |
Headquarters | Rashram House, Daksard Road, Kinadica |
Newspaper | Ekajutavaj |
Youth wing | Young Mazadoor |
Women's wing | Womens Mazadoor |
Membership (2020) | 16,125,084 |
Ideology | Social democracy Democratic socialism Charsidhanism |
Political position | Left-wing |
Religion | Secular |
Colors | Red |
Slogan | United in our Labour |
Shahee Sansad seats | 89 / 450
|
State Governments | 9 / 25
|
1 = Leader of HM's Opposition |
The Co-operative Party (abbr. CP), commonly spelled as the Cooperative Party is a major political party in Rajyaghar and is one of the two main ones, along with the Rajyani Rashtriya Party (RRP). Only the Cooperative Party and Rajyani Rashtriya Party operate on a national scale with operations in all 25 Union States. The CP is a left-wing political party which dominates the political left in Rajyaghar, with the party advocating for socialist policies. The party has had the most Premiers of any political party in Rajyaghar (a total of 6). In 2010, the CP was voted out of office and entered the new Shahee Sansad as the Official Opposition, a position it has retained through the 2015 and 2020 general elections.
The Cooperative Party was founded in 1949 as a result of a split of the People's Party into the CP and Liberal Party.
The Cooperative Party is a self-described socialist party although critics state that the party is not a true socialist party as it lists Charsidhanism as one of its ideological principles, which would go against the principle tenets of socialism as charsidhanism advocates for constitutional monarchy. Economically, the party is firmly on the left of the spectrum and is often the political voice for labour unions. Socially, the CP is more progressive than most of the other rajyani parties, with it decriminalising homosexuality in 2002, making Rajyaghar one of the first countries to do so in Coius.
The CP's base is traditionally made up of young and educated voters with large support from urban areaes. However, since the 2000s, the party has seen competition in courting the youth vote from the RRP and Liberals. The CP has typically done well in the more densely populated Union States and has made inroads with the eastern states of Zulmat and Parsa.
History
People's Party split
During Baiju Kapadia's premiership, the first in independent Rajyaghar, splits began to emerge within the People's Party between the centrist and left wing factions. During the first few years of the term, the government and party were held together due to the ongoing First Satrian War but with the it concluding in 1948, the rivalries between the two factions became more intense with constant power struggles occurring within government.
The centrist faction, led by Onkar Jariwala wanted to take strong action against the communist insurgents in the south whereas the left wing faction, led by Anand Mahanti, wanted to open a dialogue with the insurgents. The left wing faction also wanted to pursue public welfare programmes such as establishing a national health service with it being funded by cutting military spending. The Liberals, appalled by this stance, led a misinformation campaign against the incumbent Secretary of State for Health who was spearheading this plan. These underhand tactics, also employed by the left to attack the incumbent Secretary of State for Defence, led to crisis talks chaired by Kapadia, who himself was a centrist.
Kapadia was unable to reconcile the two factions with the leftists accusing him of inherent bias and the centrists accussing him of failing to secure the party. In 1949, at the fifth crisis talks in Thimpar, Nakhtrana, Kapadia determined that the party could no longer go on and ordered Jariwala and Mahanti to make preparations for a split. In order for the two new parties to be firmly established prior to the next election, both Jariwala and Mahanti both pledged to support Kapadia in the Shahee Sansad to allow the government to continue in office until the 1951 election.
Mahanti Government
At the 1951 election, Anand Mahanti and his newly formed Cooperative Party swept to power with a narrow majority in the 2nd Shahee Sansad. Mahanti, known to be a pragmatist, created a deal with the Irfanic Coalition for a confidence and supply arrangement so that the government would have enough breathing room to pass key legislation. Mahanti's government would be known for its continuation of key infrastructure projects initially started under the Kapadia Premiership. This, alongside a post-war boom helped to rapidly increase the size of the economy. Capitalising on this, the Mahanti government would create additional infrastructure programmes that would link the more rural states with the larger economic powerhouses of the core region. Mahanti's legacy would ultimately be the creation of the National Health Service in 1953. The public health care provider would be payed for by a significant reduction in military spending, owing also to the diplomatic policy conducted by the Mahanti Government towards Ajahadya, and an increase in taxes.
The mid 50s saw the rise of ethnic, religious and geographic divisions across the country. The southern states, traditionally a bastion for cooperative party support, had become disenfranchised with the centre-left politics of the Mahanti Government. In Sangam and Sasipur, the CP saw numerous defections to the newly created Communist Party. Demands for more autonomy by the southern and mountain states, who themselves were worried about increasing urbanisation and gentrification, would see increased division across the country. Another new political party created was the Tarkhana National Party which sought to declare independence for the Union State of Tarkhana. At the 1955 general election, the CP would lose its narrow majority and leave government. Mahanti's failure to combat the popular rise of the pro-tulyatan RRP would also see its political ally, the irfanic coalition, desert the CP and form a coalition government with the Liberals.
Emergency
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Return to Government
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1980s-90s
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2000s
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Political wilderness
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General Election Results
Year | Legislature | Party leader | Seats won | Change in seats | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1951 | 2nd Shahee Sansad | Anand Mahanti | 229 / 450
|
229 | Government |
1955 | 3rd Shahee Sansad | Anand Mahanti | 156 / 450
|
73 | Opposition |
1959 | 4th Shahee Sansad | XX | 89 / 450
|
XX | Opposition |
1960 | 5th Shahee Sansad | XX | 89 / 450
|
XX | Opposition |
1965 | 6th Shahee Sansad | XX | 89 / 450
|
XX | Opposition |
1968 | 7th Shahee Sansad | XX | 278 / 450
|
XX | Government |
1973 | 8th Shahee Sansad | XX | 286 / 450
|
8 | Government |
1978 | 9th Shahee Sansad | XX | 254 / 450
|
32 | Government |
1980 | 10th Shahee Sansad | XX | 89 / 450
|
XX | Opposition |
1985 | 11th Shahee Sansad | XX | 89 / 450
|
XX | Government |
1987 | 12th Shahee Sansad | XX | 89 / 450
|
XX | Government |
1988 | 13th Shahee Sansad | XX | 89 / 450
|
XX | Opposition |
1992 | 14th Shahee Sansad | XX | 89 / 450
|
XX | Opposition |
1995 | 15th Shahee Sansad | Manas Gulati | 89 / 450
|
XX | Government |
2000 | 16th Shahee Sansad | Ravi Sharma | 89 / 450
|
XX | Government |
2005 | 17th Shahee Sansad | Ravi Sharma | 89 / 450
|
XX | Government |
2010 | 18th Shahee Sansad | Ravi Sharma | 89 / 450
|
XX | Opposition |
2015 | 19th Shahee Sansad | XX | 89 / 450
|
XX | Opposition |
2020 | 20th Shahee Sansad | XX | 89 / 450
|
XX | Opposition |
Ideology and political positions
Social and Economic Policies
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Communism Ban
[overview of the party's relationship with the communist ideology and resulting consequences as a result of the communism ban implemented during the emergency]
Foreign Policy
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Defence Policy
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Leadership
The Kendrasam is the leadership and policy making body of the Cooperative Party and it is made up of Congressmen/women from each of the Shahee Sansad constituencies. Each constituency has three congressmen/women which then determine amongst themselves a party member from that consitituency to run for that constituency's seat in the Shahee Sansad. The Kendrasam as a whole is tasked with selecting from amongst itself the General Secretary of the Cooperative Party. The General Secretary will then appoint several members of the Kendrasam to serve on the Standing Committee to assist in the leadership of the party, fill key party roles and help guide the policy making process within the Kendrasam.
Since the party's formation, the Standing Committee has always consisted of Cooperative Party MPs and they have always taken on the most senior of cabinet positions when in government. When the party is in opposition, the Standing Committee is often smaller in size.
The system was intended to have a 'bottom up' leadership system with local officials selecting the national leadership. In reality, the General Secretary and the Standing Committee will select the individuals from the party membership to serve as congressmen/women in the Kendrasam effectively making it a rubber stamp.
Current Standing Committee
Since 2017, the Standing Committee of the Cooperative Party consists of General Secretary Ekanath Nayak and four other members, thus making it the smallest Standing Committee in CP history.
Name | Party Position(s) | Government/Opposition Position(s) |
---|---|---|
Ekanath Nayak | General Secretary | Leader of the Opposition |
Aditi Padhya | Party Secretary for the Union | Shadow Secretary of State for Home Affairs |
Prem Dalavi | Party Secretary for the Sansad | Shadow Leader of the House |
Jeet Mukhtar | Party Secretary for the Kendrasam | Opposition Chief Whip |
Manhar Mulani | Party Secretary for Administration | Shadow Secretary of State for Justice |