Forward Bloc
Also called: All India Forward Bloc · Topic: The National Movement: Gandhian Era · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Forward Bloc was a group formed by Subhas Chandra Bose in May 1939, inside the Congress. Earlier that year he had been re-elected Congress president against Gandhi's wishes, but he resigned after clashing with Gandhi's supporters. Bose formed the Bloc to bring together left-wing and radical Congressmen who wanted a sharper fight against British rule.
Example
In 1939 the Second World War was beginning. Bose argued that India should use Britain's difficulty to launch a mass struggle at once. The Forward Bloc became his platform for this. The Congress leadership soon took disciplinary action against him.
Don't confuse with
- Congress Socialist Party (1934): it was formed by Jayaprakash Narayan and others to push socialist ideas inside the Congress. The Forward Bloc was built around Bose personally and his call for immediate struggle.
- Indian National Army: Bose led it later, from 1943, in South-East Asia. It was an armed force, not a political group inside the Congress.
Related concepts
- Provincial elections of 1937
- Congress ministries 1937-39
- Wardha scheme of basic education
- Congress Socialist Party
- Haripura session 1938
- Tripuri crisis 1939
- Second World War
- Lord Linlithgow
- Resignation of Congress ministries
- Day of Deliverance 1939