Seva Dal: A Story of Falling into Negligence

Despite having fallen into negligence, the combative unit of Congress, the Seva Dal still exists today. There was a time when leaders like Rajguru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, and many more of the like were a part of it. Its story of transformation over time is an interesting one.

Seva Dal volunteers with Nehru; Image Source: Wikipedia

The Seva Dal is like the military equivalent of the Congress. Founded in 1923, it was the first part of its kind. It was only a couple of years later that the RSS or the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh came into existence.

The very foundation of the Seva Dal was laid during the flag Satyagraha movement of 1923. Unlike other political prisoners, Narayan Subbarao Hardikar and his acquaintances came into the limelight when they refused to write apology letters to the British Raj for their release from jail. The Congressmen saw this as an utterly daring job and decided to have them join Congress through a new military branch of the party.

Thus, a combative unit was born that had truth (satya) and non-violence (ahimsa) as its core values. Jawaharlal Nehru was appointed as the first Chairman of the Dal. Originally, it was named the Hindustani Seva Dal, only to be renamed later.

It became extremely important at those times to be associated with the Seva Dal if one wanted to enter Congress. And this tradition followed till Rajeev Gandhi's time, who too had to go through its conditioning and training process before getting absorbed into the party.

A ban was imposed on both the Congress and the Seva Dal during British rule. Later, the ban over the Congress was lifted but not that over the Seva Dal. This was a major blow to its functioning.

However, today if one looks at the Seva Dal, it has been reduced to the level of a mere associative body of the Congress. It is called upon at times to assist the party but only as a second fiddle. But what is more important to note is that though the party seems to have forgotten them, the members of the Dal even to this day stay true to its values. Every block or village in the country has the Seva Dal's representatives who maintain a rapport with the people staying there.

Thus, a revival of Congress at the central government level could be possible had the party been more considerate to the members of the Dal. This is where the RSS and the BJP have gotten ahead. Their hand-in-hand functioning is what played a crucial role in their rise to power.

Whether it was in 1977 when Indira Gandhi required security or when Rajeev Gandhi required it later, it was the Seva Dal members who were approached to feel the void. Time and again they have been approached to help campaign at the village level for the Congress, be it after Operation Blue Star in Punjab or during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The present-day members of the Seva Dal are more than willing to join the party by taking up active roles of power, it is only upon the party to devise a proper revival plan for doing so. The Dal being composed mainly of middle-class people has a better insight into the lives of the common people and it is only a matter of time to see how Congress brings them under the political ambit.