Narendra Deva

Narendra Deva

Acharya Narendra Deva pronunciation,(1889–1956) was one of the leading theorists of the Congress Socialist Party in India. His democratic socialism renounced violent means as a matter of principle and embraced the satyagraha as a revolutionary tactic.

Deva was first drawn to nationalism around 1915 under the influence of B G Tilak and Aurobindo Ghosh. As a teacher he became interested in Marxism and Buddhism. He was active in the Hindi language movement. He was a key leader of Congress Socialist Party from its founding in 1934 and was imprisoned several times during the freedom struggle. He was at times a member of the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly. From 6 December 1951 to 31 May 1954 he served as Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University. He was one of the most respected vice chancellors that BHU had in league with Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya.

Narendra Deva advocated the abolition of poverty and exploitation not just through the Marxist materialist dialectic but especially on moral and humanistic grounds. Furthermore, he insisted that "without political democracy social democracy was a sham". Deva was active in the peasant movement and served as president of the All-India Kisan Congress.

He remained associated with the Socialist Party and its successor, the Praja Socialist Party, until his death in 1956.