Nationalist response to Agrarian conflict: Dr Rajendra Prasad and peasant politics in Bihar in the 1930s

Abstract

The Congress in Bihar was faced with a dilemma: Was it to concentrate on the struggle against British rule, or also take on the zamindars, to keep its peasant supporters satisfied. Unlike Uttar Pradesh (UP) where the Congress under Nehru’s influence took an increasingly anti-zamindar position, the Bihar Congress leadership, under Rajendra Prasad, opposed any peasant take-over of the Congress and tried to keep zamindars on the Congress bandwagon. This divergence was reflected in the differing pace of agrarian reform in UP and Bihar before as well as after Independence.